-wiping that smug look off his face.
"What's up Blueboy? Ready to get beaten to death by a mushroom crab?"
Blue quirks his eyebrow at me, his arms crossed behind his head like always. "Yeah you quit that now, it doesn't work when it's you."
"You're right we're never doing that again."
This awkward silence stretches on way longer than I'd like, only broken by the sound of Basil's and Pidgeotto's Poké Balls bursting open. Because of Rue's extreme weakness to Flying and Fire, she can't really contribute much in this fight. You won't catch Basil complaining about it. He immediately connects with a Sleep Powder, but misses his newly-learned Razor Leaf. Even still, Pidgeotto goes down after landing only a single Gust. We'll still need some good luck to beat Charmander, but I believe in Basil!
My heart sinks when we miss our first Sleep Powder, and again when the next one leaves Charmander asleep for only one turn. Despite that, our level advantage is too much for Charmander to handle, and Basil takes Charmander down with just a sliver of health. That's just fine - Basil's Overgrow ability means he only gets stronger when he's pushed up against the wall like this. His boosted Razor Leaves cleave through the remaining Abra and Rattata in one hit each, winning us the battle.
Blue's jaw is clenched just a tiny bit as he cuts with "I guess there's no obstacle that can't be overcome with a unreasonable enough level advantage."
"Maybe you'd be on par with me if you didn't wait at this bridge like a lost puppy for me to show up." I stick my tongue out at him, and Basil copies me.
"Well it's good to know you have to piddle around behind me training and training to win the same fights I can get through with actual talent. Smell ya!" The switch flips, and his stupid smirk is back in full force. So unsatisfying. At least he's gone.
Basil's had his time in the limelight, so it's Rue's turn to tear up the trainers on Nugget Bridge. After taking on Blue, these guys are a total joke. At around the third trainer, though, I start to notice something strange. Something seems... Off... About Rue. She's reacting less and less as she takes damage, she's her Scratches and Leech Lifes when she never usually would, and she sometimes just selects attacks at complete random. Watching these fights unfold, Basil paws at my foot uneasily. When Rue is poisoned by a Nidoran I can see her little mushrooms swell up. I return her to her Poké Ball and let Basil finish the fight, but when I bring her back out to heal her up...
Rue had transformed.
The mushrooms on her back had grown and fused into one massive one, her legs seemingly barely able to support it. The Big Mushroom she always clings to is nowhere to be found, presumably lost to the mound atop her back. Whereas her eyes once flitted about left and right anxiously, they now stare straight and true.
The nurse in Cerulean Pokémon Center explains that this happens to many Paras. The mushrooms on their body attach themselves thoroughly to their host until they completely take over their body. Is that truly what's happened to Rue? Is she still in there? Is the Rue I knew the Pokémon that transformed, or has she been the mushrooms all along? She's much more lethargic now, but she still leans into my hand when I pet her. She still perks up when she finds her favorite berries in the grass.
I don't know. We spend a couple of more nights in Cerulean to make sure she's alright, but she never seems ill, and she's growing used to the burden on her back. I think all I can do is care for her the way I have before, and keep pressing onwards.
It doesn't feel so lonely for long, though. On the shore along Route 24, I find a pair of Grass Pokémon: a determined-looking Bellsprout, and an Oddish cowering behind it, shaking like a cluster of leaves affixed to a flowering body. When I capture Bellsprout, Oddish just freezes in place and tries to blend into the grass. I catch her too once I find another Poké Ball in my bag. I name my Bellsprout Turmeric, while Oddish's name is Fennel. I don't think Oddish usually live around here, so Fennel must be quite far from home. It's a good thing Turmeric has been here to protect her.
[I of course traded (hacked) in this Oddish. I have to if I want to end up with a team of more-than-five. This is the only version exclusive we'll have to worry about in this run.]
Basil doesn't seem to mind our new team additions anywhere near as much as he did Rue. Maybe he's matured since then... Or maybe he knew something I didn't?
Turmeric is quick to take the lead in battles. I'd love to say I've done a good job training her, but it's more like she's been training herself and Fennel. Fennel doesn't like to fight much right now, but she likes the encouragement she gets from Turmeric when she Absorbs a Geodude. They make a good team.
After a gauntlet of trainers, we all spend some time chilling by a nice pond. There's a few other people here, so it seems that this is a popular spot.
Something had to ruin the moment. Unfortunately, my sulking is interrupted by a shout.
"Someone, help me!"
Turmeric and Basil rush alongside me to the house the calls for help came from. "Hold on, I'm on my waaaaaaaaay..?"
It's a Clefairy?
"Bill" guides me through using his "cellular separater," and indeed a somewhat normal-looking person walks out afterwards. I don't really understand any of what he's talking about, but a machine like that... could it separate Rue from her mushroom? I try to ask about it, but Bill just shoves a slip of paper in my face and pushes me out the door. It's locked, too. Basil kicks some dirt at the door.
What a weirdo.
On a closer look, though, the paper looks like an invitation to a party. The S.S. Anne, that luxury liner that's making its maiden voyage. I'm sure all of us could use a trip like that.
The trek to Vermillion city is tough but brief. This is the largest city we've been to so far, but something about the salty air seems to put Fennel at ease. The dock is lined with fishermen spaced at regular intervals, one of whom generously gives me a fishing rod. In a different life, I could fish up a Gyarados and tear Blue apart, but considering the circumstances...
Yeah, it's party time now. The S.S Anne could use a new interior designer, but the ship as a whole is still pretty nice. More importantly, the hor-dourves slaaap, and the wine selection is outstanding. I'm actually only nineteen, but everyone here seems too preoccupied flaunting their wealth and talking about nothing to check my trainer card, hehe. Maybe I'm a little buzzed right now.
There's even Pokémon food for rich people here. I'm sure the people here are super snotty about what they feed their Pokémon, but Basil scarfs the food down quickly enough for me to believe it's pretty good. Turmeric and Fennel share a skewer of roasted berries, and even Rue takes her favorite Persim berry and savors it. When the berries run dry, Fennel runs off to get some more.
CRAAAAASH!!!
My head jolts up to see an older man covered in wine stains and a mortified Fennel. The ballroom has been overtaken by a hush.
"Shoot, I'm really s-"
"See, this is what happens when you let these mutts run rampant without training! Look at this Oddish, does it look trained in the slightest? How would you like it if my Pokémon just ran around, attacking indiscriminately like this?"
Before I can get a retort in on this jerk, his finger is pointed to Fennel, and one of the Growlithe by his side charges after her. As if Turmeric would let that happen. She shouts as loud as she can, and by the time she reaches Growlithe, I see she's evolved into Weepinbell! For a bit, Fennel sits frozen as Turmeric fends off the two Growlithe, but Turmeric can only hold two Fire-types off for so long. Fennel knows what she has to do: as she fires off an Acid, her determination has her, too, evolve into Gloom. Working together, I'm sure they can win the fight.
"What is going on in here?!?"
Shoot shoot shoot, we've got to dip
now. I gather up the gang, shove a few more snacks into my bag (we're not letting those go to waste!), and run out the door as fast as we can. I'm really not sure how things could get any worse than this.
"Leafy? I didn't think a simpleton like you would appreciate a fine party with socialites like us, but here you-"
"Oh my god, just fight me so I can get out of here!" I send in Basil and hope he can finish things quickly. Instead, Basil misses. Three. Sleep Powders in a row. I nearly punch a wall, but Turmeric pulls back my hand with her vines. I decide I've had enough and send in Fennel to hit a Sweet Scent. Back to Basil, we can actually take down Pidgeotto without taking more damage. Kadabra's next and scary, but that's Rue's job. Now that she's learned Dig, Rue has a physical attack that isn't Scratch, so we go for it. Kadabra hands on with a sliver and then disables Dig (that has 55% accuracy in gen 3 btw). I need Dig to take out Charmeleon, so we shuffle Fennel back in to deal with Kadabra and put Charmeleon to sleep. Back to Rue, and our Dig again leaves Charmeleon with a sliver. He wakes up and roasts Rue to a crisp. I switch in Turmeric to finish off Charmeleon, but have little choice but to have her eat a Hyper Fang from Raticate so that Basil can safely come in. We MISS our Razor Leaf, but then we crit the next one (which I'm pretty sure mattered). We've won, and by the time Blue can react I'm off this ship.
Really I'd like to get out of this town and never come back, but there's still the gym to take on. After we've healed, that isn't so bad, though. Fennel, desperate to prove herself, takes down Lt. Surge's Voltorb and Pikachu and puts his Raichu to sleep before tagging off to Rue. It takes a bit, but we hit through Double Team and Paralysis enough to take Raichu out with Dig.
Did that last bit seem like it went by quick? Chalk it up to adrenaline. I leave town and never return. I hope Blue chokes on a kebab on that stupid boat.
