Well, would you like me, CrazyAipom and Dead_Center, to add you to the PM list?
Writing Rose Quartz and Onyx
- Thread starter Crystal Hikara
- Start date
- Status
Sure I'd be glad. I want to know when these chapters are up! =)
Alrighty then, you hath been added. :3
I'll get posting on the new chapters sorta soonish- I have to edit some mistakes someone on Gym pointed out.
I'll get posting on the new chapters sorta soonish- I have to edit some mistakes someone on Gym pointed out.
OK can't wait!
Add me to the list too please!=D
CA- Sure thing.
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH Chapter 10.
Chapter 10- Sergeant Pup, At Your Service
“The irony of it all!” Crystal moaned. Route 48 shone brilliantly in the morning dew as the pair continued along, or, in the blonde’s case, trudged with heavy footsteps.
“And why are you still griping over it? It’s in the past, leave it there, already!”
Kiyo chided her companion. “I don’t want to be listening to it all the way to Zenith.”
“You make it sound like it’s going to be a week’s walk there.”
“It’s actually two months and a week.”
“Whaaaaaaat?!” Snapping her head, she nearly sobbed at her mentor’s comment.
“Yeah, well, hate to be the one to tell you, but considering the detour we have to take through the Eclipse Woods, and the fact that we have to pull a U turn after we hit Route 50-something up through Roughsville, it’ll take a while. Which means plenty of time for training and searching for Hiune!” The very thought of being on the road for so long made the girl whine even more. Surely training was exhausting under the mentor’s watchful eye, and she honestly didn’t know if she could stand even two weeks filled to the brim with it. “Heyhey, this is no whining country, didn’t you know? Besides, sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do in order to do the things that you want to. Get uuuuused to it.”
“Bah, step off,” she grumbled.
“Fiiine. I don’t see you with the ability to use Cut, or the proper gear to. You can get through the forest yourself. Kay thanks bye…” And with that, Kiyo began whistling off, and the girl panicked.
“Agh! Kiyo! No! Wait! I’m sorry!”
“…that’s what I thought,” the teen sighed, and continued down the road, though at a slower rate, allowing the younger to catch up.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Oh, here’s the detour coming up.” Suddenly, her voice lowered in volume. “While we’re in the forest, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some Missiles or trainers. It’ll be a populated detour. Be ready for anything.” Mewster did nothing but nod her head simply, and now instinctively her hand fell to her side and wrapped itself against her new Pokeball filled with the little fire chick. She was going to have to do some training with her- before they left, she checked her level and it stated ‘five’. Oh, shoot!
“Agh. I just remembered that I forgot to get my Pokegear fixed by the Silph Corp. while we were in Sunrise!”
“Smooth move, dumb one.”
“Kiyo, you meany face...”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. Surely there’ll be various other places where Silph has set up their marks in this country. I guarantee you we’ll find one in a particularly busy city area.”
“You mean Zenith?”
“Sure. They have a set up there and at Crescentflood in the sea.”
“The sea?! And how do you suppose we get there?!”
“Surfing, of course.”
“Surfing?”
“Again, you prove your lack of Pokemon knowledge to me,” the fire trainer rolled her eyes. “Surf is a move that a Pokemon can learn from an HM, like Cut, except it’s actually somewhat useful in battle. Most water types can learn Surf. It allows you to climb on their back or have them pull you along in a little raft.”
“Do you have a Pokemon with Surf?”
“Of course. My Gyarados, or Jormungand.”
“Wha?”
“Don’t worry about the nickname.”
“Still, aren’t Gyarados supposed to have, er…” Crystal paused, searching for the right word.
“Bad tempers? Yeah, most do. I got lucky with the Magikarp I caught, though. It can have a temper, though it has more of a hunger than anything else. Gods, that thing eats so much. He’s a good boy though, to say in the least. And he keeps me fairly dry when I sit on his back neck area,” she grinned, removing a Pokeball that appeared to have a net slung across the blue top. “Care to meet him?”
“Iiiiii think I’ll pass, if that’s ok with you,” Crystal heaved a sarcastic laugh, though more nervous than anything. She had the whole ‘Gyarados eat babies for breakfast’ myth pounded into her head long before she could even understand what a Pokemon was.
“Ah well, you’ll get to meet him later, at any rate, I’m sure…” With a press of the button, she minimized the Pokeball, snapping it back into place on her belt. Kiyo’s mismatching eyes turned to notice a man up ahead clothed in flourescent orange and a hard hat. The badge upon his breast gave his authority away instantly as a police officer supervising the construction work. At the sound of footsteps, he immediately turned to face the two girls.
“We’re sorry, but because of this huge landslide you’ll have to take a detour through the Eclipse Woods. I have to ask, do you two have any badges?”
“I’m all set. I already have a Pokemon knowing Cut, but she doesn’t,” the elder nodded to Crystal, nudging her forward a little.
“I see…your trainer card, miss?” he held out a hand, and wearily, Crystal unzipped her small front compartment, slipped it out of its cozy resting place, and handed it to the officer. He gazed a moment at the trainer card, checking the badge out and her Pokemon.
“You have a Dratini, I see.”
“Yes.”
“I take it your Pokemon are strong, to win against a Grass leader with those Pokemon?”
“I guess so. …Yes,” the girl rapidly changed her sentence as her mentor nudged her in the shoulder.
“Ha, okay. Very well…” he handed the trainer card back, writing down something upon a small notepad. “Crystal, was it? Hold on a second. Hey! Hey guys!” Quick orderly footsteps carried him off to the construction site. The somewhat unnerved trainer gazed at the lush scenery barricaded by forest, low cliffs and hills on each side of the path. Only in her curiosity did she note him picking up something…something small and metallic. He returned with haste. “You’re lucky. This is the last pair we had. I trust you’ll use it well.” And, with that, he handed the machine over to Crystal, whom was taken aback slightly by its weight.
“Errr…excuse me for sounding dense, but what exactly are these?” she questioned, examining the shine of the metal. The device was bladed much like a pair of sheers, though seemed to be locked in place. The pincers were well sharpened, and a small crevice found its way along the plastic hand grips.
“It’s part of a machine we were using to cut through the soil. We had to stop using it, though, as it had the potential to cause another rockslide if we continued boring through the rock with it. A Silph man was kind enough to take the parts in and turn them into Adventure Gear.”
“Ah, so this is the Adventure Gear I’ve been hearing so much about,” Kiyo took the gear off of Crystal’s hands for a moment.
“Yes; they supposedly made a lot more Adventure Gear for different purposes in the world, too. That one holds the power of Cut in it. It’s so you don’t have to waste a move slot on a Pokemon with an HM move that cannot normally be forgotten. At any rate, all you have to do is take your trainer card, slide it on through the Gear, which will open it up. Then all you do is put your hands in there, and there’s a simple trigger mechanism in there so that when you squeeze it, it will activate the cutters. You use it to cut small, stubborn trees and brush down. Don’t worry- the trees will regenerate after a short amount of time. They’re like Berry trees- they don’t die for nothing.
“Well, back to work. Take care in that forest- it’s hard to see in there.” And, with that, the man turned away, back to business, and the two girls trekked on towards the forested route.
“Adventure Gear…what next, surfboards for getting through water routes?” Kiyo scoffed, handing the gear back to her. “Not like the olden days, where you had to sacrifice a move…Anyways, we’ll be at the entrance to the Eclipse Woods soon. This is gonna be fun....” the trainer sarcastically drawled, as the path slowly began to narrow and lack light.
“Oogh. It’s getting kinda dark.”
“What, afraid of the dark? Afraid something’s gonna get youuuuuu?”
“Cut it out, Kiyo. I’m not afraid of darkness, unless I can’t even see my hand when it’s in front of me.” Crystal grumbled, hand falling restlessly upon one of her Pokeballs. She wasn’t going to take any chances if Kiyo decided to pull a fast one on her or if one of the wild Pokemon did the same.
“Jeez, it’s as dark as night in here…I don’t remember it being this dark in a long time.” Kiyo muttered as the two continued along.
“Yeah, that helps my esteem a lot, Kiyo. Thanks.” The younger stated through gritted teeth, unnerved and stumbling often over roots and rocks she could not make out, often making her heart leap left and right. They had had a few encounters with Pokemon through the forest, though generally most everything was calm. It was a little too calm for Crystal’s tastes. The wood constantly had her gazing at her watch; even though it was still in the afternoon, albeit it was late, no sunlight would greet them.
“Relaaaaax! Once we get through Nagushi Cave, this will seem like a cakewalk to you.”
“Nagushi Cave?” she questioned, stubbing her toe on yet another rock. To her, it felt as though they had been walking for days in the forest, not knowing where exactly they were off to.
“Yeah. It’s so dark you need Flash to get through…not that you need any badges to use it or anything.”
“Joy.”
“And did I mention it had…ghosts in there?”
“Forget going through that cave.”
“You have to. There’s no other way to Twilitsong and Mornfall till you can Surf. And Mornfall has the badge that allows you to Surf.”
“Come on!” Crystal whined.
“Deal with it. Oh, here’s a tree that’s fairly skinny. I think we can squeeze through here if we cut it down…” the mentor pointed out, and the trainer merely grumbled as she took the equipment out of her bag. Without another word, she slid her Trainer Card out of her backpack as well, and through running her fingers over the device, she found the card-sized slot. Carefully, she inserted it in, and the card took. The cutters buzzed to life, suddenly pounds less than before. Putting her ID into her pack again, she cautiously gripped the blade’s handles between her hand. Tenderly the blades slid together and open once more as she applied various pressures. The girl experimented with the pincers, before taking to the tree. With a simple snip, the tree fell and cleared the path. Making sure to set the pincers to safety mode, the younger stepped over the small stump, letting her arms rest securely at her side. Naturally, the mentor followed, though she didn’t get too far, as the student had paused.
“Crystal? Why did you-”
“Shhh…” the girl somewhat rudely silenced her friend, as she stood dead still. Her delicate, small ears were picking up a conversation of a few Pokemon, and surely it was curiosity that got her to eavesdropping in.
“So, with the quickest prudence I retreated from the area,” whispered a Poochyena to an Oddish friend. “Terrible events really, with all of that trainer scum about on the bridge, concocting some reconnaissance or searching for some device or another…”
“Yeah, it’s getting really bad. Only hope now seems to be in the forest, and even then we aren’t safe from trainers,” the weed Pokemon concurred. “Any idea what they were looking for?”
“I haven’t the faintest, sincerely. My astute ears picked up something about a Vulpix or other, and maybe a trainer? I fell back from the area in a wise decision before I was discovered.”
“Come on, surely you heard more than that,” the Oddish whispered.
“It’s not that…I smell humans nearby…” the dark type growled, nose wrinkling dangerously as his canine teeth were bare.
“Not like they could hear us.”
“True, but alas…trainer scum is terrible. I despise them and what they’ve done to this planet. Each and every one of them.” Gulping slowly, and cautiously turning her head, Crystal gazed up to her friend.
“What?”
“Do you know a bridge near these woods?” The gifted girl’s voice was barely audible.
“Sure, Apollo Bridge. It’s the largest bridge in the region. Why are we whispering?”
“There’s a Poochyena that said there were trainers on a bridge looking for a Vulpix and a trainer. If I didn’t know better, I think he was talking about a kit Vulpix- Hiune- and me.”
“Uh, Crystal?” Kiyo’s voice rose.
“Keep your voice down…!” she hissed.
“Ah ha, ha, no need to. Look.” Turning to where the finger was pointed at, the girl that was named for her brilliant blue eyes backed away slowly. There stood the growling Poochyena.
“Trainer scum! Get off our land!” the dog barked, and Crystal immediately reached for her Pokeball on her waist.
“Crystal, it looks rabid. Look at that foam at its mouth,” the mentor condemned. “We should get going.”
“Wait. I’m just gonna ask about the Vulpix and if it was me…”
“No, Crystal…!”
However, against her mentor’s decision, she turned to the angry pooch. “Listen, I don’t mean any trouble, and I’m sorry for listening in, but…” she began, but the dog cut her off.
“Don’t mean any trouble! Ha! Don’t make me laugh, you film! I know you and all of your fellow people, who think they can get on our side by inventing some new doo-hicky that allows you to talk to us and understand us! No, you’re all the same. You all just want to catch us and use us for whatever god-forsaken purpose that it is you call training and battling! Well, forget it! Get lost out of our land! I won’t have any of it, filth! Else I’ll make you leave…” he growled, and more ooze dripped out.
“I will get on my way, but please, you have to tell me- were the one’s you saw on the bridge wearing a black outfit with a large ‘M’ with an ‘R’ slightly above it?”
“Like I’d tell you! Get going! Now! Outta my forest, scum!”
“Now you be waitin’ a cotton-pickin’ minute, busta!”
There was a sudden cry, and looking down, the blonde noticed that Flora had stealthily snuck out of her Pokeball, and rushed on over to the Poochyena.
“Flora…” Crystal muttered, making a grab for her, but failed.
“How cute. Flora. Well, Flora, are you challenging me to a battle, you weakling who got herself captured?”
“You rascal! Oh, I don’t be believin’ dat slobber dripping from your mouth and your head! In our hood, we’s be proud Oddish dat don’t be name-callin’ at our kind becoming trainer’s Pokemon! No! We’s hold our head high in pride, got it, dawg?” As Flora walked up into his face, he withdrew slowly. “Now, you don’t be goin’ and be callin’ my Homey-C no sliiiiime, because you be da slimeball if you be doubtin’ her kindness and be throwin’ her in with da rest of da trainer crowd!”
“I call them as I see them, you illiterate Oddish. This is your final warning…” his voice took to a serious degree.
“Illiterate! How DARE you! Man, guys dese days be havin’ absolutely no cort’sy when they be tellin’ a girl off! I’mma teach you a lesson, compliments of da ‘Hood!” And, without her trainer’s say-so, Flora dived in and head-butted the dark pup.
“Argh, what are you doing Crystal? Get in there and take control of the situation!” Kiyo shook her partner’s shoulder.
“I, er…”
“Crystal!”
“Flora, Absorb, but try not to knock it out,” the new trainer hastily commanded.
“Say whaaaaaat? Just some Absorbin’ and no butt-whoopin’? I’mma see dis-” at that moment, Flora called him something that made Crystal wince from the profanity, “goes to da Doggie Pound!”
“Come on, Flora, just don’t knock him out…!”
“Hah, I must see how pathetically this trainer fights in this war…” Suddenly the dark type jumped back, paws unusually close together, as though a trained military officer. Dipping his head, he started a growl, before he stretched to reach the black sky of dark trees above, letting loose what could only be a spine-chilling Howl. The feeling of a Spinarak inching down Crystal’s neck made her twitch and shiver violently. After the call, he wasted no time on his acute steps to launch his attack- a severely damaging Tackle that nearly sent Flora flying. Grinding against the ground upon her feet, she shouted rampantly as she fought for her balance with her leaves.
“Hoo, dat boy be strong! Dat be fine, I be stronger, fo’ shizzle!” the grass type chuckled with a fierce shake of her head, then hopped back into action, wrapping her leaves on the victim to drain life force out of the pup. A sickening green glow engulfed the dark type as he let out an unexpected yelp of surprise. “Yep, betcha dat be hurtin’ in da mornin’!”
“Get off of me, you-…!” A sharp gasp escaped the trainers lips at what he had called her Oddish. Said grass type did not take lightly to it either.
“Oh…” In a dark tone of voice, a nasty growl emitted from the weed, death in her beady eyes. “…Call me such a disrespectful thing, will you? Oh, you be goin’ down now, army boy!” And, in sheer anger and lack of discipline, Flora launched forward without a single word Crystal could order against it. The Poochyena howled in agony as the Oddish dished out rapid Tackles and Absorbs far too advanced for someone of her level.
“Flora…!”
“Oh, oh god. That looks painful. Crystal, what’s going on? What did you order?!” Kiyo eyed the Poochyena somewhat sympathetically.
“I can’t say anything against it!”
“Why not?! Get in there and-”
“Well, you see, she was called a, you know…” Crystal whispered the profane term into Kiyo’s ears, and she let out a sarcastic laugh.
“Ha, oh, wow. Definitely not the thing to call your Oddish, that’s for sure, with her attitude the way it is. Oh, I think he’s just about out like a light.” Confused, Mewster turned back to see Flora merely jumping up and down upon the nearly unconscious dog.
“Flora! That’s enough!”
“And don’t you EVER be disrespectin’ no girl like dat, EVER again, you little-” And, once again, a string of vulgar words came from the grass-poison type’s sharp tongue. The pathetic creature was in no way, shape or form fit for battle, though he still attempted to rise to his feet. The trainer quickly pointed Flora’s Pokeball at the disobedient creature. “Aw, come on, Homey! I had to give it to him.”
“Sorry, but you’ve done way more damage than what was necessary.”
“Aw, but Homey-C!”
Crystal sighed as she recalled the Oddish into her ball, before taking in the sight of the Poochyena.
It was extremely obvious Flora had been furious, as his injuries proved well enough. Light twitches from his entire body and a throaty cough inferred Stun Spore inhalation, and various lacerations on his fur revealed blood. Crystal bent down to pick up the creature, now guilty of doing so much damage to it.
“Get away from me! I’ll rip your head off!” Despite the bark of complaint, it was clear that he wasn’t capable of such violence.
“Calm down. I’m just going to get you to a Pokemon Center. …Kiyo? Where’s the nearest Pokemon Center?”
“In Hourchime, but we wouldn’t get there in time to give it proper treatment.”
“Proper treatment?”
“Well, we can use potions on him, but I think he’ll only attack us again. Not to mention I do think he has rabies…he could die at any time.”
“Pokemon can’t attack their trainers, can they?”
“No, but Crystal-!” Kiyo started, but it was too late. Crystal had recklessly pulled out a Pokeball, and she pressed it against the angered Poochyena. Even in his state he put up a fight, but, at last, the light upon the Pokeball went dim. Gradually hanging her head and shaking it, the fire trainer sighed. “Crystal…I think that was just about the dumbest thing you’ve done yet on your journey.”
“What? Catching a Poochyena?”
“Catching a rabid Poochyena. I don’t even know if you’ll be able to heal it in that state.”
“I’m sure we will. Besides, are you sure so he was rabid…? He looked fine when he was talking to that Oddish…” Yanking a Potion from her bag, she opened up the Pokeball. Adamantly, the pup came out, lying on the ground. With little thought, a fine mist covered the majority of his wounds. The medication swiftly fulfilled its job; rapidly the dog sat up, nearly snapping at the girl.
“You stupid trainer scum! Now you will…” his words drifted off. Yellow eyes locked onto his new trainer, the Pokeball, and back at his trainer. “… … …no...”
“I had no other choice. You needed immediate medical attention-”
“No! I refuse to believe this! Oh my dearest legendaries!” the pup howled in pain. “Never in my life did I think I’d have to be subject to such torture and agony of being a, a, a…” he whined.
“A what?” the girl questioned hopefully, though he soon wailed endlessly.
“A measly little pet! Oh, Pops will never forgive me of such actions! Oh, I’ve failed you, sir!” The dog, if it was possible, would’ve been crying tears to compliment the cries of anguish he let loose. Both slightly annoyed and sympathetic, the girl did nothing but sigh, shaking her head at Kiyo.
“Looks like we have another character on our hands, Kiyo…”
“Always new characters, mm?” she muttered, rolling her eyes. “What’s its personality this time?”
“I dare say someone from the military, the way he talks.”
“Are you kidding me.”
“No. Unfortunately, I’m not.”
“Oh, have fun dealing with Mr. Rabid Poochy, then…sir.”
“Hilarious, Kiyo…” Crystal turned to the pup, whom was still whining in hysteria.
“It’s all your fault, trainer! I’ll never live it down from Pops now, if I do ever see him again!” he growled, snapping at the trainer.
“Who is your father? I’m sure he’d understand…”
“Beaten by a no-good Oddish?! Captured by some newbie female trainer by the looks of it?! Hardly! Oh, but it’s no use. Pops was taken away when I was still young. Told me always to defend the nest from the trainer threat.”
“Was he taken by a trainer?”
“Nah. I have no idea. He said the area in Kanto was getting bad, and so he smuggled us onto a ship that let us off in that city to the north of here.”
“Dawndew?”
“Sure, whatever. Anyways, he refused to get on the ship. I think it had to do with his fear of water. Can’t blame the old man for that. We were lucky ourselves to not get caught.”
“So you left with your mom?”
“Yes, and my other siblings. I was the eldest, of course, of the eggs. Pop told me to watch over the family. And now, I’ve failed that wish. It’s YOUR fault.”
“Well, sorry. How was I to know? I just wanted to heal you.”
“Every action you take, trainer, even the best in intent, has a negative reaction, even if it may seem as though it isn’t. Keep that in mind the next time you go and act so rashly.”
“You would’ve rather died there?” the young trainer questioned.
“…Yes,” the Poochyena turned to the forest. “Live free or die, you know. Of course, I don’t have either of those choices anymore. Hmm…hahaha. Forgive me, Pops. I’ve failed you, and to a young, inexperienced trainer.”
“Don’t all big and great trainers start out inexperienced on the road, though?” At that question, the Poochyena perked his ears, slowly eying her as he turned around.
“They do…but what makes you think you can become the best? Huh? Just what makes you think that you can succeed in this harsh world?” Astonished by the tough questions this dark pup was asking, she gaped for a moment, struggling with words.
“I, er…”
“Atten-hut! Back straight! Chest puffed and out! No staggering in your sentences! You say what you have with pride!” he barked roughly, and Crystal followed with the ordered, tensed up.
“I’m inspired by my family to go well in this world, and to surpass my overprotective mother that failed on her quest to be the best!” the gifted one nearly shouted. The Poochyena wasn’t the only one that gawked at Crystal when she said this, even if the fire trainer couldn’t understand a word she yelled. After a moment, the dog seemed to have a suppressed chuckle, which grew into a huge guffaw. “…What? What’s so hilarious about that?!”
“Harharhar! Ah, forgive me Pops. She think just her family will make her strong. Obviously your momma forced you to follow one too many orders, if you’re obeying your Pokemon, and not the opposite way around. No, trainership is about not only teamwork, but keeping a tight leash on your Pokemon! You pathetic thing! You couldn’t even tame that Oddish…” he started, and Crystal began to feel her cheeks get hot. Angered at his inferior words, she fiercely countered.
“Oh, that’s easy enough for you to say, bigshot Pup! You would you like it if nearly everyday, you had to struggle, and I say, STRUGGLE, to read about the moves of a Pidgey, or even get a glimpse of Pokemon outside the forest where you lived, when you yearned so desperately to explore the world? How would YOU feel if you had a dream to follow your High Council sister and defeat her in an amazing battle, only to have it silenced by your mother, in her fear of the world?! How would you feel, pooch, if you were the only Pokemon in the world, in the wild, that could speak human and understand human as equally well, and were stolen away from that dream you finally had begun to achieve by a Team Missile member and forced to rat out your fellow Pokemon that they were torturing?! Huh? You would not feel very confident in your skills, when it seemed as though the entire world was out to get you! You have it easy! I bet you didn’t even have a dream when your father asked you to watch over your family, now did he?! Did he?! I’m listening!” With the surprising rant, the pup merely cowered in fear, then began bawling again.
“Yes! I had a dream! I one day had a dream to be the best dark type that man would ever face! Oh, woe! Pops was totally against such, such, such irrationalism! I wanted it badly, but he told me family always comes first, and so that was the end of that! I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere outside of my family! Ah, what’s the use? You never get for what you hope for, at any rate. Now I want to protect my family more than ever, but I wasn’t careful for what I wished for…” he cried on, leaving Crystal silent for a moment. Her rage died down, and finally she heaved a heavy breath, feeling terrible for her rant.
“…Would you want to say bye to them before you go on the trip?”
“And Pops’ll kill- what was that?” Slowly in agony, he turned around, yellow eyes wide open.
“I’d feel bad if you just…well, came with me in my party without saying bye to your family and letting them know what happened to you instead of having them worry. Surely they’d be concerned if you were to up and never come back from a daily- nightly- whatever time it is stroll…” Again, the dark Pokemon scoffed at his trainer.
“Ha! Obviously you’d never understand the shame of being caught and used for some devious scheme you have no choice but to participate in, trainer. I refuse to go to them and let them know how I’m doing. They’ll understand if I…disappear and took off like my father did. They wouldn’t want to know.”
“I have a name, you know…” Crystal poked the creature, still slightly annoyed.
“Oh, really…Homie-C?” the canine chuckled in a raspy voice.
“That’s…what Flora insists on calling me. All of my Pokemon, really, insist on different names- ma’am, teammate, even girl by some serious scumbags known as Team Missile…but my name is Crystal. Crystal Hikara. Anything you like to be called…?”
“Ha! That’s a laugh. Crystal Hikara. Ok, Hikara, I think I can deal with that. As for my name…” He precisely walked over, stepping onto her lap and poking his nose nearly to hers.
“Sergeant Pup, at your service.”
“…Sergeant…Pup? You have to be kidding…” Crystal, staring into his yellow and red eyes, blinked in disbelief.
“You heard me. That’s my code-name in these part of the woods, or as your kind refers to it, a nickname. Ha, I don’t expect you to be using it with that skeptical look on your face, though.”
“No, it’s just you have some very odd military personality. You take a serious nature to a whole new level. …how about this? You give me a little respect as your trainer and you give some respect you your teammates, and I’ll make sure that you’ll become…a Lieutenant Yena some day.”
“Ha! Lieutenant Yena. What, you think you’ll be good enough to evolve me or something? But I won’t be promising anything, especially with that low-life Oddish of yours.”
“I wouldn’t speak too loudly. She can hear you, you know.”
“As though I care,” he held his tail and snout high.
“You saw the beating she gave you last time…” he flinched before changing subjects rapidly.
“So, Hikara, what exactly is your mission at hand here in these woods?”
“I was just going to cut through them and see if I can’t get through the detour that they have active because of that rockslide.”
“Huh? Rockslide? Surely I would’ve heard news of such dangerous rubble through the woods. No one said anything about a rock slide.” Serge. Pup raised a fuzzy eyebrow in question of this news.
“You didn’t hear about it? There’s this giant mass of rocks as large as the cliff…” Of course, as the words came from her mouth, they sounded…awkward, and it wasn’t just the Pokemon language. Why would a rockslide be level to the cliff the rocks fell from? That’s awfully…suspicious… Before the dog could respond, she immediately interrogated him, a serious look on her face. “You say you know the local news of the woods. I need you to answer me this now; did you see any men or women with the black suit with the RM with the little missile design on in the forest? Have you noticed anything significant in the forest that’s different from normal life?” The Poochyena considered for a moment, before answering.
“Actually, it seemed as though the forest has been both more lively and quiet than normal. Lot more Pokemon scampering left and right, though I haven’t heard of this…enemy,” he pawed at the ground, remembering back.
“Do you remember anything about what they said about a Vulpix and or a trainer?”
“There’s only so much I can understand from human speech. I didn’t receive any names, but they were talking about a Vulpix egg or something of that nature that they were unable to get their hands on, from what I could tell. As for the trainer…why? What does it matter?”
“It does. Trust me…” her eyes went a cold blue. Perhaps he saw this, and squinted, trying to remember the event.
“Well…again, foggy, but I remember hearing a few words… ‘Pidgey’ was one. ‘Rose’ was another. And then there was something about ‘trainer’, and ‘Pokeball’. Other than that, I can’t remember anything else.” Mewster’s normally cheery face was more than somber. Surely, they were talking about me, and maybe they still have poor Breeze. I have to get her back…! Rose…that’s probably describing my hair color. But, what about a Pokeball? Well, it doesn’t matter. Team Missile probably knows that we’re in this forest, and they’re on the lookout for us...
“Thanks…but, just out of curiosity…I know that your mother had to be a Poochyena like yourself or a Mightyena. What of your father? Poochyena don’t typically have this sort of nature, unless I’m mistaken.”
“Ha, Pops. He was a proud Houndoom. You do know what a Houndoom is, right? They typically only live in Kanto or rarely in Johto.” At this, Crystal’s eyes sharply widened, and she fingered a dark scar instinctively she had received but a month and a half ago.
“Houndoom…?! What’s his name?”
“Eh? Why does it matter?”
“Trust me! It does!”
“You always say that…but he really didn’t have a code-name of sorts, other than me referring to him as sir.”
“Did he have any sort of scar on his face?”
“You think you know my father?” With a pit already within her stomach, the female nodded. “…there was one he received from fending off a Pidgeotto upon his right eye. He’s blind in that eye. Is that what you needed to hear…?” No, no it wasn’t, Crystal sickly nodded. Her eyes hollowed themselves as she remembered her terrifying days being scowled at by Chris Johnson’s dark-fire type.
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH Chapter 10.
Chapter 10- Sergeant Pup, At Your Service
“The irony of it all!” Crystal moaned. Route 48 shone brilliantly in the morning dew as the pair continued along, or, in the blonde’s case, trudged with heavy footsteps.
“And why are you still griping over it? It’s in the past, leave it there, already!”
Kiyo chided her companion. “I don’t want to be listening to it all the way to Zenith.”
“You make it sound like it’s going to be a week’s walk there.”
“It’s actually two months and a week.”
“Whaaaaaaat?!” Snapping her head, she nearly sobbed at her mentor’s comment.
“Yeah, well, hate to be the one to tell you, but considering the detour we have to take through the Eclipse Woods, and the fact that we have to pull a U turn after we hit Route 50-something up through Roughsville, it’ll take a while. Which means plenty of time for training and searching for Hiune!” The very thought of being on the road for so long made the girl whine even more. Surely training was exhausting under the mentor’s watchful eye, and she honestly didn’t know if she could stand even two weeks filled to the brim with it. “Heyhey, this is no whining country, didn’t you know? Besides, sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do in order to do the things that you want to. Get uuuuused to it.”
“Bah, step off,” she grumbled.
“Fiiine. I don’t see you with the ability to use Cut, or the proper gear to. You can get through the forest yourself. Kay thanks bye…” And with that, Kiyo began whistling off, and the girl panicked.
“Agh! Kiyo! No! Wait! I’m sorry!”
“…that’s what I thought,” the teen sighed, and continued down the road, though at a slower rate, allowing the younger to catch up.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Oh, here’s the detour coming up.” Suddenly, her voice lowered in volume. “While we’re in the forest, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some Missiles or trainers. It’ll be a populated detour. Be ready for anything.” Mewster did nothing but nod her head simply, and now instinctively her hand fell to her side and wrapped itself against her new Pokeball filled with the little fire chick. She was going to have to do some training with her- before they left, she checked her level and it stated ‘five’. Oh, shoot!
“Agh. I just remembered that I forgot to get my Pokegear fixed by the Silph Corp. while we were in Sunrise!”
“Smooth move, dumb one.”
“Kiyo, you meany face...”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. Surely there’ll be various other places where Silph has set up their marks in this country. I guarantee you we’ll find one in a particularly busy city area.”
“You mean Zenith?”
“Sure. They have a set up there and at Crescentflood in the sea.”
“The sea?! And how do you suppose we get there?!”
“Surfing, of course.”
“Surfing?”
“Again, you prove your lack of Pokemon knowledge to me,” the fire trainer rolled her eyes. “Surf is a move that a Pokemon can learn from an HM, like Cut, except it’s actually somewhat useful in battle. Most water types can learn Surf. It allows you to climb on their back or have them pull you along in a little raft.”
“Do you have a Pokemon with Surf?”
“Of course. My Gyarados, or Jormungand.”
“Wha?”
“Don’t worry about the nickname.”
“Still, aren’t Gyarados supposed to have, er…” Crystal paused, searching for the right word.
“Bad tempers? Yeah, most do. I got lucky with the Magikarp I caught, though. It can have a temper, though it has more of a hunger than anything else. Gods, that thing eats so much. He’s a good boy though, to say in the least. And he keeps me fairly dry when I sit on his back neck area,” she grinned, removing a Pokeball that appeared to have a net slung across the blue top. “Care to meet him?”
“Iiiiii think I’ll pass, if that’s ok with you,” Crystal heaved a sarcastic laugh, though more nervous than anything. She had the whole ‘Gyarados eat babies for breakfast’ myth pounded into her head long before she could even understand what a Pokemon was.
“Ah well, you’ll get to meet him later, at any rate, I’m sure…” With a press of the button, she minimized the Pokeball, snapping it back into place on her belt. Kiyo’s mismatching eyes turned to notice a man up ahead clothed in flourescent orange and a hard hat. The badge upon his breast gave his authority away instantly as a police officer supervising the construction work. At the sound of footsteps, he immediately turned to face the two girls.
“We’re sorry, but because of this huge landslide you’ll have to take a detour through the Eclipse Woods. I have to ask, do you two have any badges?”
“I’m all set. I already have a Pokemon knowing Cut, but she doesn’t,” the elder nodded to Crystal, nudging her forward a little.
“I see…your trainer card, miss?” he held out a hand, and wearily, Crystal unzipped her small front compartment, slipped it out of its cozy resting place, and handed it to the officer. He gazed a moment at the trainer card, checking the badge out and her Pokemon.
“You have a Dratini, I see.”
“Yes.”
“I take it your Pokemon are strong, to win against a Grass leader with those Pokemon?”
“I guess so. …Yes,” the girl rapidly changed her sentence as her mentor nudged her in the shoulder.
“Ha, okay. Very well…” he handed the trainer card back, writing down something upon a small notepad. “Crystal, was it? Hold on a second. Hey! Hey guys!” Quick orderly footsteps carried him off to the construction site. The somewhat unnerved trainer gazed at the lush scenery barricaded by forest, low cliffs and hills on each side of the path. Only in her curiosity did she note him picking up something…something small and metallic. He returned with haste. “You’re lucky. This is the last pair we had. I trust you’ll use it well.” And, with that, he handed the machine over to Crystal, whom was taken aback slightly by its weight.
“Errr…excuse me for sounding dense, but what exactly are these?” she questioned, examining the shine of the metal. The device was bladed much like a pair of sheers, though seemed to be locked in place. The pincers were well sharpened, and a small crevice found its way along the plastic hand grips.
“It’s part of a machine we were using to cut through the soil. We had to stop using it, though, as it had the potential to cause another rockslide if we continued boring through the rock with it. A Silph man was kind enough to take the parts in and turn them into Adventure Gear.”
“Ah, so this is the Adventure Gear I’ve been hearing so much about,” Kiyo took the gear off of Crystal’s hands for a moment.
“Yes; they supposedly made a lot more Adventure Gear for different purposes in the world, too. That one holds the power of Cut in it. It’s so you don’t have to waste a move slot on a Pokemon with an HM move that cannot normally be forgotten. At any rate, all you have to do is take your trainer card, slide it on through the Gear, which will open it up. Then all you do is put your hands in there, and there’s a simple trigger mechanism in there so that when you squeeze it, it will activate the cutters. You use it to cut small, stubborn trees and brush down. Don’t worry- the trees will regenerate after a short amount of time. They’re like Berry trees- they don’t die for nothing.
“Well, back to work. Take care in that forest- it’s hard to see in there.” And, with that, the man turned away, back to business, and the two girls trekked on towards the forested route.
“Adventure Gear…what next, surfboards for getting through water routes?” Kiyo scoffed, handing the gear back to her. “Not like the olden days, where you had to sacrifice a move…Anyways, we’ll be at the entrance to the Eclipse Woods soon. This is gonna be fun....” the trainer sarcastically drawled, as the path slowly began to narrow and lack light.
“Oogh. It’s getting kinda dark.”
“What, afraid of the dark? Afraid something’s gonna get youuuuuu?”
“Cut it out, Kiyo. I’m not afraid of darkness, unless I can’t even see my hand when it’s in front of me.” Crystal grumbled, hand falling restlessly upon one of her Pokeballs. She wasn’t going to take any chances if Kiyo decided to pull a fast one on her or if one of the wild Pokemon did the same.
“Jeez, it’s as dark as night in here…I don’t remember it being this dark in a long time.” Kiyo muttered as the two continued along.
“Yeah, that helps my esteem a lot, Kiyo. Thanks.” The younger stated through gritted teeth, unnerved and stumbling often over roots and rocks she could not make out, often making her heart leap left and right. They had had a few encounters with Pokemon through the forest, though generally most everything was calm. It was a little too calm for Crystal’s tastes. The wood constantly had her gazing at her watch; even though it was still in the afternoon, albeit it was late, no sunlight would greet them.
“Relaaaaax! Once we get through Nagushi Cave, this will seem like a cakewalk to you.”
“Nagushi Cave?” she questioned, stubbing her toe on yet another rock. To her, it felt as though they had been walking for days in the forest, not knowing where exactly they were off to.
“Yeah. It’s so dark you need Flash to get through…not that you need any badges to use it or anything.”
“Joy.”
“And did I mention it had…ghosts in there?”
“Forget going through that cave.”
“You have to. There’s no other way to Twilitsong and Mornfall till you can Surf. And Mornfall has the badge that allows you to Surf.”
“Come on!” Crystal whined.
“Deal with it. Oh, here’s a tree that’s fairly skinny. I think we can squeeze through here if we cut it down…” the mentor pointed out, and the trainer merely grumbled as she took the equipment out of her bag. Without another word, she slid her Trainer Card out of her backpack as well, and through running her fingers over the device, she found the card-sized slot. Carefully, she inserted it in, and the card took. The cutters buzzed to life, suddenly pounds less than before. Putting her ID into her pack again, she cautiously gripped the blade’s handles between her hand. Tenderly the blades slid together and open once more as she applied various pressures. The girl experimented with the pincers, before taking to the tree. With a simple snip, the tree fell and cleared the path. Making sure to set the pincers to safety mode, the younger stepped over the small stump, letting her arms rest securely at her side. Naturally, the mentor followed, though she didn’t get too far, as the student had paused.
“Crystal? Why did you-”
“Shhh…” the girl somewhat rudely silenced her friend, as she stood dead still. Her delicate, small ears were picking up a conversation of a few Pokemon, and surely it was curiosity that got her to eavesdropping in.
“So, with the quickest prudence I retreated from the area,” whispered a Poochyena to an Oddish friend. “Terrible events really, with all of that trainer scum about on the bridge, concocting some reconnaissance or searching for some device or another…”
“Yeah, it’s getting really bad. Only hope now seems to be in the forest, and even then we aren’t safe from trainers,” the weed Pokemon concurred. “Any idea what they were looking for?”
“I haven’t the faintest, sincerely. My astute ears picked up something about a Vulpix or other, and maybe a trainer? I fell back from the area in a wise decision before I was discovered.”
“Come on, surely you heard more than that,” the Oddish whispered.
“It’s not that…I smell humans nearby…” the dark type growled, nose wrinkling dangerously as his canine teeth were bare.
“Not like they could hear us.”
“True, but alas…trainer scum is terrible. I despise them and what they’ve done to this planet. Each and every one of them.” Gulping slowly, and cautiously turning her head, Crystal gazed up to her friend.
“What?”
“Do you know a bridge near these woods?” The gifted girl’s voice was barely audible.
“Sure, Apollo Bridge. It’s the largest bridge in the region. Why are we whispering?”
“There’s a Poochyena that said there were trainers on a bridge looking for a Vulpix and a trainer. If I didn’t know better, I think he was talking about a kit Vulpix- Hiune- and me.”
“Uh, Crystal?” Kiyo’s voice rose.
“Keep your voice down…!” she hissed.
“Ah ha, ha, no need to. Look.” Turning to where the finger was pointed at, the girl that was named for her brilliant blue eyes backed away slowly. There stood the growling Poochyena.
“Trainer scum! Get off our land!” the dog barked, and Crystal immediately reached for her Pokeball on her waist.
“Crystal, it looks rabid. Look at that foam at its mouth,” the mentor condemned. “We should get going.”
“Wait. I’m just gonna ask about the Vulpix and if it was me…”
“No, Crystal…!”
However, against her mentor’s decision, she turned to the angry pooch. “Listen, I don’t mean any trouble, and I’m sorry for listening in, but…” she began, but the dog cut her off.
“Don’t mean any trouble! Ha! Don’t make me laugh, you film! I know you and all of your fellow people, who think they can get on our side by inventing some new doo-hicky that allows you to talk to us and understand us! No, you’re all the same. You all just want to catch us and use us for whatever god-forsaken purpose that it is you call training and battling! Well, forget it! Get lost out of our land! I won’t have any of it, filth! Else I’ll make you leave…” he growled, and more ooze dripped out.
“I will get on my way, but please, you have to tell me- were the one’s you saw on the bridge wearing a black outfit with a large ‘M’ with an ‘R’ slightly above it?”
“Like I’d tell you! Get going! Now! Outta my forest, scum!”
“Now you be waitin’ a cotton-pickin’ minute, busta!”
There was a sudden cry, and looking down, the blonde noticed that Flora had stealthily snuck out of her Pokeball, and rushed on over to the Poochyena.
“Flora…” Crystal muttered, making a grab for her, but failed.
“How cute. Flora. Well, Flora, are you challenging me to a battle, you weakling who got herself captured?”
“You rascal! Oh, I don’t be believin’ dat slobber dripping from your mouth and your head! In our hood, we’s be proud Oddish dat don’t be name-callin’ at our kind becoming trainer’s Pokemon! No! We’s hold our head high in pride, got it, dawg?” As Flora walked up into his face, he withdrew slowly. “Now, you don’t be goin’ and be callin’ my Homey-C no sliiiiime, because you be da slimeball if you be doubtin’ her kindness and be throwin’ her in with da rest of da trainer crowd!”
“I call them as I see them, you illiterate Oddish. This is your final warning…” his voice took to a serious degree.
“Illiterate! How DARE you! Man, guys dese days be havin’ absolutely no cort’sy when they be tellin’ a girl off! I’mma teach you a lesson, compliments of da ‘Hood!” And, without her trainer’s say-so, Flora dived in and head-butted the dark pup.
“Argh, what are you doing Crystal? Get in there and take control of the situation!” Kiyo shook her partner’s shoulder.
“I, er…”
“Crystal!”
“Flora, Absorb, but try not to knock it out,” the new trainer hastily commanded.
“Say whaaaaaat? Just some Absorbin’ and no butt-whoopin’? I’mma see dis-” at that moment, Flora called him something that made Crystal wince from the profanity, “goes to da Doggie Pound!”
“Come on, Flora, just don’t knock him out…!”
“Hah, I must see how pathetically this trainer fights in this war…” Suddenly the dark type jumped back, paws unusually close together, as though a trained military officer. Dipping his head, he started a growl, before he stretched to reach the black sky of dark trees above, letting loose what could only be a spine-chilling Howl. The feeling of a Spinarak inching down Crystal’s neck made her twitch and shiver violently. After the call, he wasted no time on his acute steps to launch his attack- a severely damaging Tackle that nearly sent Flora flying. Grinding against the ground upon her feet, she shouted rampantly as she fought for her balance with her leaves.
“Hoo, dat boy be strong! Dat be fine, I be stronger, fo’ shizzle!” the grass type chuckled with a fierce shake of her head, then hopped back into action, wrapping her leaves on the victim to drain life force out of the pup. A sickening green glow engulfed the dark type as he let out an unexpected yelp of surprise. “Yep, betcha dat be hurtin’ in da mornin’!”
“Get off of me, you-…!” A sharp gasp escaped the trainers lips at what he had called her Oddish. Said grass type did not take lightly to it either.
“Oh…” In a dark tone of voice, a nasty growl emitted from the weed, death in her beady eyes. “…Call me such a disrespectful thing, will you? Oh, you be goin’ down now, army boy!” And, in sheer anger and lack of discipline, Flora launched forward without a single word Crystal could order against it. The Poochyena howled in agony as the Oddish dished out rapid Tackles and Absorbs far too advanced for someone of her level.
“Flora…!”
“Oh, oh god. That looks painful. Crystal, what’s going on? What did you order?!” Kiyo eyed the Poochyena somewhat sympathetically.
“I can’t say anything against it!”
“Why not?! Get in there and-”
“Well, you see, she was called a, you know…” Crystal whispered the profane term into Kiyo’s ears, and she let out a sarcastic laugh.
“Ha, oh, wow. Definitely not the thing to call your Oddish, that’s for sure, with her attitude the way it is. Oh, I think he’s just about out like a light.” Confused, Mewster turned back to see Flora merely jumping up and down upon the nearly unconscious dog.
“Flora! That’s enough!”
“And don’t you EVER be disrespectin’ no girl like dat, EVER again, you little-” And, once again, a string of vulgar words came from the grass-poison type’s sharp tongue. The pathetic creature was in no way, shape or form fit for battle, though he still attempted to rise to his feet. The trainer quickly pointed Flora’s Pokeball at the disobedient creature. “Aw, come on, Homey! I had to give it to him.”
“Sorry, but you’ve done way more damage than what was necessary.”
“Aw, but Homey-C!”
Crystal sighed as she recalled the Oddish into her ball, before taking in the sight of the Poochyena.
It was extremely obvious Flora had been furious, as his injuries proved well enough. Light twitches from his entire body and a throaty cough inferred Stun Spore inhalation, and various lacerations on his fur revealed blood. Crystal bent down to pick up the creature, now guilty of doing so much damage to it.
“Get away from me! I’ll rip your head off!” Despite the bark of complaint, it was clear that he wasn’t capable of such violence.
“Calm down. I’m just going to get you to a Pokemon Center. …Kiyo? Where’s the nearest Pokemon Center?”
“In Hourchime, but we wouldn’t get there in time to give it proper treatment.”
“Proper treatment?”
“Well, we can use potions on him, but I think he’ll only attack us again. Not to mention I do think he has rabies…he could die at any time.”
“Pokemon can’t attack their trainers, can they?”
“No, but Crystal-!” Kiyo started, but it was too late. Crystal had recklessly pulled out a Pokeball, and she pressed it against the angered Poochyena. Even in his state he put up a fight, but, at last, the light upon the Pokeball went dim. Gradually hanging her head and shaking it, the fire trainer sighed. “Crystal…I think that was just about the dumbest thing you’ve done yet on your journey.”
“What? Catching a Poochyena?”
“Catching a rabid Poochyena. I don’t even know if you’ll be able to heal it in that state.”
“I’m sure we will. Besides, are you sure so he was rabid…? He looked fine when he was talking to that Oddish…” Yanking a Potion from her bag, she opened up the Pokeball. Adamantly, the pup came out, lying on the ground. With little thought, a fine mist covered the majority of his wounds. The medication swiftly fulfilled its job; rapidly the dog sat up, nearly snapping at the girl.
“You stupid trainer scum! Now you will…” his words drifted off. Yellow eyes locked onto his new trainer, the Pokeball, and back at his trainer. “… … …no...”
“I had no other choice. You needed immediate medical attention-”
“No! I refuse to believe this! Oh my dearest legendaries!” the pup howled in pain. “Never in my life did I think I’d have to be subject to such torture and agony of being a, a, a…” he whined.
“A what?” the girl questioned hopefully, though he soon wailed endlessly.
“A measly little pet! Oh, Pops will never forgive me of such actions! Oh, I’ve failed you, sir!” The dog, if it was possible, would’ve been crying tears to compliment the cries of anguish he let loose. Both slightly annoyed and sympathetic, the girl did nothing but sigh, shaking her head at Kiyo.
“Looks like we have another character on our hands, Kiyo…”
“Always new characters, mm?” she muttered, rolling her eyes. “What’s its personality this time?”
“I dare say someone from the military, the way he talks.”
“Are you kidding me.”
“No. Unfortunately, I’m not.”
“Oh, have fun dealing with Mr. Rabid Poochy, then…sir.”
“Hilarious, Kiyo…” Crystal turned to the pup, whom was still whining in hysteria.
“It’s all your fault, trainer! I’ll never live it down from Pops now, if I do ever see him again!” he growled, snapping at the trainer.
“Who is your father? I’m sure he’d understand…”
“Beaten by a no-good Oddish?! Captured by some newbie female trainer by the looks of it?! Hardly! Oh, but it’s no use. Pops was taken away when I was still young. Told me always to defend the nest from the trainer threat.”
“Was he taken by a trainer?”
“Nah. I have no idea. He said the area in Kanto was getting bad, and so he smuggled us onto a ship that let us off in that city to the north of here.”
“Dawndew?”
“Sure, whatever. Anyways, he refused to get on the ship. I think it had to do with his fear of water. Can’t blame the old man for that. We were lucky ourselves to not get caught.”
“So you left with your mom?”
“Yes, and my other siblings. I was the eldest, of course, of the eggs. Pop told me to watch over the family. And now, I’ve failed that wish. It’s YOUR fault.”
“Well, sorry. How was I to know? I just wanted to heal you.”
“Every action you take, trainer, even the best in intent, has a negative reaction, even if it may seem as though it isn’t. Keep that in mind the next time you go and act so rashly.”
“You would’ve rather died there?” the young trainer questioned.
“…Yes,” the Poochyena turned to the forest. “Live free or die, you know. Of course, I don’t have either of those choices anymore. Hmm…hahaha. Forgive me, Pops. I’ve failed you, and to a young, inexperienced trainer.”
“Don’t all big and great trainers start out inexperienced on the road, though?” At that question, the Poochyena perked his ears, slowly eying her as he turned around.
“They do…but what makes you think you can become the best? Huh? Just what makes you think that you can succeed in this harsh world?” Astonished by the tough questions this dark pup was asking, she gaped for a moment, struggling with words.
“I, er…”
“Atten-hut! Back straight! Chest puffed and out! No staggering in your sentences! You say what you have with pride!” he barked roughly, and Crystal followed with the ordered, tensed up.
“I’m inspired by my family to go well in this world, and to surpass my overprotective mother that failed on her quest to be the best!” the gifted one nearly shouted. The Poochyena wasn’t the only one that gawked at Crystal when she said this, even if the fire trainer couldn’t understand a word she yelled. After a moment, the dog seemed to have a suppressed chuckle, which grew into a huge guffaw. “…What? What’s so hilarious about that?!”
“Harharhar! Ah, forgive me Pops. She think just her family will make her strong. Obviously your momma forced you to follow one too many orders, if you’re obeying your Pokemon, and not the opposite way around. No, trainership is about not only teamwork, but keeping a tight leash on your Pokemon! You pathetic thing! You couldn’t even tame that Oddish…” he started, and Crystal began to feel her cheeks get hot. Angered at his inferior words, she fiercely countered.
“Oh, that’s easy enough for you to say, bigshot Pup! You would you like it if nearly everyday, you had to struggle, and I say, STRUGGLE, to read about the moves of a Pidgey, or even get a glimpse of Pokemon outside the forest where you lived, when you yearned so desperately to explore the world? How would YOU feel if you had a dream to follow your High Council sister and defeat her in an amazing battle, only to have it silenced by your mother, in her fear of the world?! How would you feel, pooch, if you were the only Pokemon in the world, in the wild, that could speak human and understand human as equally well, and were stolen away from that dream you finally had begun to achieve by a Team Missile member and forced to rat out your fellow Pokemon that they were torturing?! Huh? You would not feel very confident in your skills, when it seemed as though the entire world was out to get you! You have it easy! I bet you didn’t even have a dream when your father asked you to watch over your family, now did he?! Did he?! I’m listening!” With the surprising rant, the pup merely cowered in fear, then began bawling again.
“Yes! I had a dream! I one day had a dream to be the best dark type that man would ever face! Oh, woe! Pops was totally against such, such, such irrationalism! I wanted it badly, but he told me family always comes first, and so that was the end of that! I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere outside of my family! Ah, what’s the use? You never get for what you hope for, at any rate. Now I want to protect my family more than ever, but I wasn’t careful for what I wished for…” he cried on, leaving Crystal silent for a moment. Her rage died down, and finally she heaved a heavy breath, feeling terrible for her rant.
“…Would you want to say bye to them before you go on the trip?”
“And Pops’ll kill- what was that?” Slowly in agony, he turned around, yellow eyes wide open.
“I’d feel bad if you just…well, came with me in my party without saying bye to your family and letting them know what happened to you instead of having them worry. Surely they’d be concerned if you were to up and never come back from a daily- nightly- whatever time it is stroll…” Again, the dark Pokemon scoffed at his trainer.
“Ha! Obviously you’d never understand the shame of being caught and used for some devious scheme you have no choice but to participate in, trainer. I refuse to go to them and let them know how I’m doing. They’ll understand if I…disappear and took off like my father did. They wouldn’t want to know.”
“I have a name, you know…” Crystal poked the creature, still slightly annoyed.
“Oh, really…Homie-C?” the canine chuckled in a raspy voice.
“That’s…what Flora insists on calling me. All of my Pokemon, really, insist on different names- ma’am, teammate, even girl by some serious scumbags known as Team Missile…but my name is Crystal. Crystal Hikara. Anything you like to be called…?”
“Ha! That’s a laugh. Crystal Hikara. Ok, Hikara, I think I can deal with that. As for my name…” He precisely walked over, stepping onto her lap and poking his nose nearly to hers.
“Sergeant Pup, at your service.”
“…Sergeant…Pup? You have to be kidding…” Crystal, staring into his yellow and red eyes, blinked in disbelief.
“You heard me. That’s my code-name in these part of the woods, or as your kind refers to it, a nickname. Ha, I don’t expect you to be using it with that skeptical look on your face, though.”
“No, it’s just you have some very odd military personality. You take a serious nature to a whole new level. …how about this? You give me a little respect as your trainer and you give some respect you your teammates, and I’ll make sure that you’ll become…a Lieutenant Yena some day.”
“Ha! Lieutenant Yena. What, you think you’ll be good enough to evolve me or something? But I won’t be promising anything, especially with that low-life Oddish of yours.”
“I wouldn’t speak too loudly. She can hear you, you know.”
“As though I care,” he held his tail and snout high.
“You saw the beating she gave you last time…” he flinched before changing subjects rapidly.
“So, Hikara, what exactly is your mission at hand here in these woods?”
“I was just going to cut through them and see if I can’t get through the detour that they have active because of that rockslide.”
“Huh? Rockslide? Surely I would’ve heard news of such dangerous rubble through the woods. No one said anything about a rock slide.” Serge. Pup raised a fuzzy eyebrow in question of this news.
“You didn’t hear about it? There’s this giant mass of rocks as large as the cliff…” Of course, as the words came from her mouth, they sounded…awkward, and it wasn’t just the Pokemon language. Why would a rockslide be level to the cliff the rocks fell from? That’s awfully…suspicious… Before the dog could respond, she immediately interrogated him, a serious look on her face. “You say you know the local news of the woods. I need you to answer me this now; did you see any men or women with the black suit with the RM with the little missile design on in the forest? Have you noticed anything significant in the forest that’s different from normal life?” The Poochyena considered for a moment, before answering.
“Actually, it seemed as though the forest has been both more lively and quiet than normal. Lot more Pokemon scampering left and right, though I haven’t heard of this…enemy,” he pawed at the ground, remembering back.
“Do you remember anything about what they said about a Vulpix and or a trainer?”
“There’s only so much I can understand from human speech. I didn’t receive any names, but they were talking about a Vulpix egg or something of that nature that they were unable to get their hands on, from what I could tell. As for the trainer…why? What does it matter?”
“It does. Trust me…” her eyes went a cold blue. Perhaps he saw this, and squinted, trying to remember the event.
“Well…again, foggy, but I remember hearing a few words… ‘Pidgey’ was one. ‘Rose’ was another. And then there was something about ‘trainer’, and ‘Pokeball’. Other than that, I can’t remember anything else.” Mewster’s normally cheery face was more than somber. Surely, they were talking about me, and maybe they still have poor Breeze. I have to get her back…! Rose…that’s probably describing my hair color. But, what about a Pokeball? Well, it doesn’t matter. Team Missile probably knows that we’re in this forest, and they’re on the lookout for us...
“Thanks…but, just out of curiosity…I know that your mother had to be a Poochyena like yourself or a Mightyena. What of your father? Poochyena don’t typically have this sort of nature, unless I’m mistaken.”
“Ha, Pops. He was a proud Houndoom. You do know what a Houndoom is, right? They typically only live in Kanto or rarely in Johto.” At this, Crystal’s eyes sharply widened, and she fingered a dark scar instinctively she had received but a month and a half ago.
“Houndoom…?! What’s his name?”
“Eh? Why does it matter?”
“Trust me! It does!”
“You always say that…but he really didn’t have a code-name of sorts, other than me referring to him as sir.”
“Did he have any sort of scar on his face?”
“You think you know my father?” With a pit already within her stomach, the female nodded. “…there was one he received from fending off a Pidgeotto upon his right eye. He’s blind in that eye. Is that what you needed to hear…?” No, no it wasn’t, Crystal sickly nodded. Her eyes hollowed themselves as she remembered her terrifying days being scowled at by Chris Johnson’s dark-fire type.
PMJ
Silhouette Gloom of the Sundown Lands
Forum Head
Articles Head
Elite Member
Advanced Member
Member
Ah, +1 party member ;o
I don't mind this guy's personality one bit. Kind of a slow chapter, but I suppose this is a bit of an introductory chapter for the new guy. You said you had another one ready, so I'll check it out when it's up ^_^d
Also have you read my story? It's linked in my sig.
I don't mind this guy's personality one bit. Kind of a slow chapter, but I suppose this is a bit of an introductory chapter for the new guy. You said you had another one ready, so I'll check it out when it's up ^_^d
Also have you read my story? It's linked in my sig.
I'm actually so busy with wanting to read so many other fanfics, my work with POL, and lack of time online that I haven't even gotten a real chance to look at any other fics around here, to be completely honest. ^^'; Ah ha...so busy with so many things...
Anyways, here comes Chapter 11!
Chapter 11-Enter Kara
“Crystal…Crystal! Come on. Wake up. We need to get on the move.” A familiar voice shattered her dreams, as the new trainer slowly regained consciousness.
“Huh…?”
“Shh. We have to be quiet. Team Missile’s around, I know it. We gotta move…” the elder trainer suspiciously eyed the woods, Umbree by her side. The other members of her team had already been called back to their capsule homes, and it appeared as though she was urging her friend to do the same. Well, if it’s concerning Team Missile, I can’t blame her for waking me up so suddenly… Crystal sat up from her uncomfortable bed, stretching sore joints and muscles from the rough night of sleep, eyes still filled with dreams and unconsciousness. She vaguely tried her best to obey the trainer and comprehend words with action. “Don’t worry about changing right now. I’ll roll up your sleeping bag. Get your Pokemon ready to leave in their Pokeballs.”
“Mmmm,” the younger bluntly grunted, dragging her feet along like a zombie, as she gazed into the sky. Blackness filtered down endlessly. For a moment, she nearly snapped at Kiyo for waking her up in the middle of the night, but she remembered that she was in the dark as night Eclipse Woods, and her words faltered back as she examined her glitching Pokegear. As she tapped it a few times, she managed to read 6:31 before the numbers became indecipherable. Really have to fix that soon…by the legendaries, it’s still so early… Groggily the gifted one wobbled on over to her still resting Pokemon.
“Hey, hey guys. We have to leave,” she ordered, and all snored on. The only one to immediately shoot to his feet with a menacing face was Sergeant Pup; his left eye closed, having been a crack open throughout the night. The other Pokemon seemed to snore on. Rolling her eyes, Crystal slowly nudged each. “Come on, right now…”
“Nnnwhat? It’s too early. Lemme sleep…” Dragola whined faintly, and coiled up tighter, sticking her head into the small circle her body created.
“You can sleep in your Pokeball…” Crystal withdrew said Onyx Ball, and Dragola only gave a rudimentary grunt to get the trainer to leave her be. She disappeared in a flash of red light. Flora gave no sort of response correctly to her trainer’s orders, and Mewster sighed, merely recalling her. However, the small bundle of igneous feathers was far too inviting not to pass up. She carefully scooped the tiny Pokemon into her arms, so as not to disturb her rest by forcing her back into her ball. Her soft down tickled her bare arms lightly, and a small sapphire eye opened slowly to look at her trainer, before it closed shut again. The trainer gazed at the pup, who was right on her heels, lightly growling.
“Is there someone coming this way?” the trainer whispered.
“Ten-four, a lot of no-good scumbags by their scent,” was the growling response. The student felt a tap on her back, and though she received the goosebumps and an increased heartrate, it was merely Kiyo attaching the sleeping bag to her backpack. The mentor said nothing, but continued out along the path that they had detoured from. Umbree and her human companion hurried after her, and raced along as quietly as possible. They found themselves in surprise to see fledgling sunlight suddenly pouring into their faces.
“Gaaaah, so bright!” Crystal exclaimed, only to be hushed by the teenager.
“Just because we’re out of the woods doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods.”
“Huh?!”
“It’s an expression for out of trouble. Come on. The sooner we make it to Hourchime, the better off we’ll be.” Without another whispered word, they set foot onto Route 48 after an exhausting week in the forest. Crystal was quick to notice the rather large rockslide a few feet away from their position. Boulders of incredible size blocked out nearly the entirety the dull, distant noises of the construction crew upon the other side; the younger of the two trainers was willing to bet her small wallet full of money that the detour had taken them more than a few miles. Serge. Pup swiftly ran over to the rockslide, eyes wide in wonder.
“This…this definitely has to be from a rock Pokemon, slowly placed over time. There’s no way a slide this big was just from that little cliff. There’s just no way…”
“Hey, come on. We have to get going…” his trainer called, and with a snarl at the pile, he made use of his quick paws and took off.
The sea bordered area of Hourchime came into view as the forest cleared itself, the brilliant blue reflecting wildly in Crystal’s happy eyes. Bustling was common around the town even though the sun barely had slipped above the horizon point. Fisherman were glued to their seats in anticipation of the big catch. Salesman were trying to set up for their big day to sell trainers and people items to serve their everyday needs, or so they claimed. Sailors gave out commands and retorts as they whisked around on their decks in their near foreign language. It went unsaid but understood between the travelling pair that a good night’s rest was needed before they could even think of checking out any of the action of the town. A quick word with a local jogger sent them off in the direction they hoped led to the red-roofed sanctuary for trainers.
The sun was bright and abundant, beating heavily down upon the duo’s back as they reached the Pokemon Center. Umbree winced from the sudden glare, and tried to keep in their long shadows to shade his eyes. On the completely opposite hand, Flare was all to willing to sing happily about the sun, and bathed pleasantly in the rays. Serge. Pup said nothing, merely eyeing other trainers whom were out and about early in the day, and occasionally muttering something incomprehensible about them. The automatic doors slid open, and the tired trainers walked on in. They were immediately greeted by a nurse with strawberry brunette hair.
“Hello. You two are trainers, right?”
“Yeah. We just came from the Eclipse Woods,” the elder trainer spoke.
“You appear tired. Would you like to have your Pokemon healed- oh, my, she’s a rather chipper one…” at the sight of the baby Torchic, the medic appeared as though it brightened her day to see the fire type singing absentmindedly away.
“Ha, yeah…” Crystal poked Flare questionably, and she gazed at her.
“Well, you can’t blame me. Darkness is a great enemy, though we overcame it. I used to love to train in the morning sun…it brought such a strength when you thought you were just out of it,” the little chick preened her tiny wing, stretching about comfortably in her arms. “I can tell you later what I mean, given the outstanding troubles of your ability to normal folk…” Jeez, I get a cute Pokemon and she is absolutely ridiculous and wise at the same time. My Pokemon, I swear…Crystal briefly sighed, forcing English out.
“I take it you like Torchic?”
“I think that they are a rather cute species, yes. We don’t see too many around these parts, though- more around Eclipse City where it’s nearly sunny everyday. Oh, that reminds me…we have a new, state-of-the-art machine that is commonly used by Breeders and egg-holders to make eggs hatch faster and new baby Pokemon more relaxed so they can learn about the world. Your Torchic is a new hatchling, isn’t she?”
“Wha…how did you know? And how did you know she was a female?”
“It was in her little song. It’s a bit more high-pitched and sweeter than what a male can sing. But, at the same time, she seems to be able to sing very well for someone as small and as babyish as she is. Normally Torchic that are averaged age of a year or two are a foot and a quarter tall, just about. Yours looks barely a foot tall, if that.”
“You sure know your Torchic, don’t you?” Kiyo seemed impressed.
“Well, I do have a darling female Combusken, after all. She only recently evolved. Oh, you could’ve imagined my surprise, though, when my sweet girl brought an egg up to me one day.”
“An egg? About how long ago?” Crystal, with a weird suspicion in mind, questioned.
“Ah, maybe a week or two ago. It was really surprising, haha… I wouldn’t have ever thought that she’d sneak out to see a fire Pokemon…” the nurse’s face turned slightly red. “Well, at any rate, I couldn’t keep the egg, and so I merely just…sent it along with Combusken, and give it to her mate to take care of. I do hope that she made the right choice in a mate, you know. Um, but I digress from my job. Would you like your Pokemon to be healed?”
“Sure. It was a pretty long issue in the woods, after all,” Crystal grinned, raising her eyebrows to Kiyo. Of course, she quickly lost such a look, handing over the four Pokeballs on her belt after recalling her Poochyena and Torchic. Kiyo followed suit, depositing her six Pokeballs onto a tray, returning Umbree thankfully to his Pokeball. The nurse wasted no time sweeping both trays gracefully away, one in each hand and balanced so well that it made Kiyo mutter to the girl about her maybe having a second job as a waitress somewhere in the present or past. Regardless, the two sat down upon an available couch in the lounge, and the older briskly interrogated the other.
“Okay, what was that look about?”
“Hmm? Oh, nothing. Suspicion, that’s all,” Crystal gave a small laugh.
“About…? Team Missile?”
“No. About the origin of that egg that your Charmeleon had.” The fire trainer paused for a minute, before a serious twisted questioning look came to face.
“…Wait, what? No way. Are you inferring…?”
“It’s a small world after all, mmm?” Crystal grinned. “Course, it’s just a hunch, really. For all I know, it coulda been some totally different Combusken or Blaziken that mated with Blaze to make that egg that hatched into Flare.”
“You said he found it on the side of the road.”
“Maybe the Combusken told him to come, and then just left the egg there on the road. How am I to know, really?”
“I’mma have you ask him the truth once he’s ready to go.”
“Fine. I’m curious myself to see if it’s true, what he says..” There was a smirking silence between the two, and cautiously, the girl brought up the subject from last night that she had discussed with Umbree. “Hey, Kiyo. Um…”
“What?” Seeing a certain concerned and befuddled look in Mewster’s eyes, she bent forward a little bit.
“Well, I was just sort of curious…but…you seem to have a serious sort of hate for Kinshayti.” Suddenly, the air around them chilled, and the fire trainer’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes, I suppose I do. Don’t you hate her for you imprisoning you?”
“Well, sure, but what did she do to you that made that hate so unfettered and raw?”
“Don’t get poetic about it. It’s not something I like to discuss.”
“Is it really that bad what she did to you?” Crystal eyed her somewhat sympathetically.
“Yes. Now…I ask of you to please drop the subject.”
“But, Kiyo-”
“Just drop it.”
With that, not another word was spoken. Well, can she be blamed? If it’s as hurtful as Kiyo says it is, then I have no right poking my nose into business of this nature. It was obviously something that could be marked as Kiyo’s soft spot, her nerve, and the young trainer couldn’t help but wonder what Kinshayti had done to Kiyo in her past that caused such pain. Thankfully for the girl, the uneasy peace that followed after the fire trainer’s last comment was ended as the nurse came back out with their Pokemon.
“There we are. All refreshed!” the nurse happily smiled, and set down their trays. Kiyo nodded her head in thanks, though still appearing bitter, and clipped all of her Pokeballs on with haste. Crystal did the same, taking a moment to organize them on her belt. Surely Sergeant Pup and Flare were itching for some battles, and she wanted them in prime grabbing positions so that they were easy to send out.
“Thank you,” Crystal beamed.
“You’re welcome.”
“Say, can we get a room? We didn’t get much rest sleeping in the woods last night…” Kiyo stretched, rubbing a sore neck muscle.
“Oh, sure. I believe we have one room left that’s available. Follow me.” Hastily, the nurse picked up the trays, leaving them at the service desk, and in a very unprofessional move, she hopped acrobatically clean over the barrier, found a key, and repeated her action. Student and mentor merely gazed in absolute surprise at this sudden move. The nurse, with her springtime emerald eyes, gaped back. “What’re you looking at?”
“Just, uh, that you cleared a desk without a running start,” the fire trainer chuckled.
“Twice,” added in the younger.
“…Oh, shoot. I did it again. Please don’t let my boss know. He would get me so bad if he knew I was hopping all over the place…” she whined, and instead turned to the hallway, and began to lead the two still in disbelief down the silent hall. “By the way, my name’s Kara Hikorume, from Zenith.”
“I’m Kiyo Dustren from Ecruteak City in Johto, though born in Sunburst.”
“And I’m Crystal Hikara from Dawndew.”
“Well met, you two. So, out on the road adventuring?”
“Yep. I started on my own, but seeing what a complete newbie I am to the Pokemon world, Kiyo took me under her wing and has been mentoring me ever since.” the young trainer chuckled with high praise for the teacher, hoping it’d place her in a better mood.
“That sounds like a big responsibility.”
“Tch’yeah. You have no idea just what it takes for this girl to learn about the PC system or using an HM move. Hahaha.” Well, at least she’s trying to joke, though at my expense. Maybe I deserve it for prying into forbidden territory, and now I’m just getting bitten in the butt by the guard dog which safeguards her secret. Ah, maybe I do think too poetically for my own good… Ridiculous thoughts aside and to keep up appearances, all the gifted girl did was chuckle lightly and roll her eyes. Might as well get used to this…surely I’ll be called a newbie a lot, no thanks to Mom… “…Ha, well, she is a good kid. I couldn’t just sit there and let her struggle on her own, really. Especially not with Team Missile out there, just waiting to claim their victims,” her voice turned dark, and Kara’s eyes deepened as well. She forced a terrible chuckle.
“Yeah, those goons. They always go and try and terrorize the weak and recruit the strong. Go figure, you know? At least Hourchime is fairly free of their criminal grasp, for now.”
“For now?” the teenager rose an eyebrow.
“Call it instinct or intuition- whichever you believe in or want to call it- but I have a feeling that they really want to take this place over one day for whatever dark purposes that it holds. Oh, I do hope I’m long gone by then and out on some sort of adventure."
“You want to be on an adventure?”
“Yeah. It’s a…difficult position I was thrown into. I’ve always just wanted to take on the Zenith Gym back home, but those infesting…maggots, Team Missile…” extreme distaste grew in her voice, “…ha, they straight out cleared the gym out and took it as their own. Even with a Nature Badge, I really can’t continue on that easily with my journey, if I can’t get a real badge.”
“They’re handing out faux Badges?”
“Yeah. Terrible what they do, isn’t it?”
“Ha, I think it’s safe to say they’re more than maggots, but I’m not allowed to say, as little ears are listening in, you know…” the fire trainer chuckled, though both young trainers had a look of perplexity upon their faces. “Never mind. So, you took a job here at the Hourchime Center as a nurse instead and gave up on your journey?”
“What other choice did I have?” she heaved a heavy breath, fiddling with the key card in her hand as she turned a corner. “I was hurt fairly bad when I was foolish enough to challenge their control of the gym. Maggots they may be, but strong ‘roaches they are. They…dumped me off in the woods with my Pokemon nearly to die, and it was only this hospital’s amazing efforts that was able to bring me back from the edge. Given I didn’t have anywhere to stay, as my family was- well, not given they escaped, as I hope- trapped in Zenith, and I owed so much to them as it was, I figured the least I could do was repay some of their hospitality in work. And, so, here I am, without family and only two of my Pokemon at my side…” Again, she sighed, though she stopped in front of a door. Kiyo nodded along, though Crystal caught a familiar look in her eye. “Here’s your room and key card. I know it’s a little small, but it’s all we have, so I hope you enjoy. Thanks for listening to my story. If you don’t mind, I have a ton more work to do before my shift ends…” After a fleeting smile, she took to the halls, and disappeared around the corner, leaving mentor and student to retire to their room.
“Well, I have to feel bad for her…” Crystal held a dead pan face as she somewhat zoned out whilst rambling, putting all of the information she gathered together.
“Yeah. Team Missile’s presence is that bad, though…?” Kiyo muttered, asking the question to the empty room. “…worse than I thought…”
“To take over a gym and hand out fake badges? Why not hand out real ones to make them look less suspicious?”
“They’re only sent to the gym leader via their PC, which none can access without their special trainer cards. Ha, and they’re probably too smart to not try swiping a gym leader’s trainer card. Gym Leaders hide their trainer cards well.”
“…Huh. …come to think of it, what about your trainer card, Kiyo?”
“Eh? Oh, yeah. It’s a super trainer card, though, as I have beaten several regions instead of the normal one...” Kiyo fiddled around in her bag of wonders, and after a moment where Crystal could make out a clicking sound, the teen finally handed it over. It was rather large, and held sixteen well-polished badges.
“Oh, wow! This is really impressive!” the younger admired, gazing at them all in the top bunk of the bed, before she bent over the side of it and pointed to two badges, one from each set. “I like these two the best.”
“Hmm? Oh, the Rainbow and the Zephyr Badges,” Kiyo took the card back after Crystal was well and done staring in awe and admiration at them, settling for memories of good herself. “Ha, yeah. Erika of Celadon City in Kanto, whom deals with grass types, she owns the Rainbow Badge, and quite well, with all of the bright and assorted colored flowers in her gym. Completely easy to wipe with Blaze. Just far too easy. Can you say wildfire? Hahaha… But that Falkner of Violet Gym, owner of the Zephyr Badge, man…he was tough cake, especially because he was my first real gym battle. Ooh, can’t even begin to explain the nightmares I had from losing to him the first time.”
“Kiyo, losing a battle?!” the blonde gasped.
“Yeah, I know, right? It’s crazy, but true. Ha, I was less prepared than you were, really, though that’s hard to believe. Well, I did have knowledge enough, but even then it can only do so much when all you have is an Eevee at your side.”
“You didn’t have Umbree then?”
“No. No, I got him when I visited home in Ecruteak, really.” Kiyo suddenly silenced, and changed the topic. “But, really, it’s been too long since I’ve been to Beghta.”
“Is that why you were roaming around the region alone?”
“Ha, yeah. I was making my way out from Portview to go home to Sunburst when Team Missile decided it’d be a wonderfully bright idea to steal from me,” Of course, at this the pair couldn’t help but laugh at the event.
“I just can’t believe it’s been nearly six weeks since then…”
“Time flies, no?” the black haired trainer grinned, before she swung herself down into the bottom bunk. “Oh, and how it flies when you’re tired and sleeping.”
“Yeah. It took me a while to fall asleep last night.”
“That’s hard to believe, considering how it took forever for you to wake up, even after a Missile attack.”
“Say whaaaaaaat?!” Crystal nearly fell off the top of the piece of furniture in her exclamation. “Why didn’t you wake me?!”
“Ha, I don’t think an Explosion from the foulest smelling Weezing woulda woken you up. Then again, the battle was fairly swift. Umbree was quick to hear them out in the woods, nudged me up, and then…”
“And then?”
“Decimation by Umbreon.” A crazy grin plastered itself over the fire trainer’s face as she giggled maniacally. “Ha, though I think he’s taken quite the liking to you, Mewster, guarding your bedside instead of mine…” As she spoke, she dramatically swiped the back of her hand over her forehead and placed one hand delicately over her heart.
“What have I told you about using that name?”
“Bah, don’t you mind it. I’m sure you’ll grow to like it soon enough after I call you it enough times.” the elder mischievously smirked.
“Ha, dream on.”
“And dream I do…or will.”
“Besides that point, you know how cataclysmic it’d be if Team Missile got their hands on me. You said it yourself, Kiyo.”
“True enough, I suppose. Umbree must know that well, and had taken that into consideration. How cuuute. Uh, not to be rude or anything, but can I take nappy? Those damned Peons take it out of you after the twentieth one challenges you to battle.”
“Hey hey, language.”
“Pshhh. You’re a trainer. You’re a teenager nearly. You’ll survive a cuss or two.”
“Still, I don’t like it.”
“Why? Because dear old Mommy said it was bad?”
“Good night, Kiyo!” Crystal growled, and swiftly rolling over into the blankets, she made herself comfortable, saying nothing more.
Interesting chapter.
Can't wait for the next one.
Can't wait for the next one.
I agree with CA. I enjoyed reading it.
Ba-da-dum! Chapter update tiems.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Chapter 12- Two's Company, Three's a Party
“Mmmm, wish I slept longer. That bed felt goooood.”
“You slept for another two hours, girl. You don’t need any more. If anything, I need more sleep after that long war with Team Missile.”
“I’m ten. You’re seventeen. I’m still growing. Studies show you need sleep to-”
“Oh, shove a sock into it, Ms. Factoid,” the mentor rolled her oddly colored eyes, before returning to her brunch plate of pancakes and bacon, along with a side of home fries. Crystal had a similar plate, though she seemed a tad preoccupied.
“You know, for our age difference and all of that, we’re pretty similar.”
“Mmm?” the elder paused, munching on a strip of fried pig.
“Well, we both have older siblings and we’re the youngest, we like a lot of the same foods, and we both hate Team Missile.”
“Ha, yeah. We’re probably a lot more alike than we think, too. That’s normally how it works out. As for the whole Pokemon dealie, you and I, ha, we couldn’t be further apart.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Crystal defensively shoved her fork down to her plate with a clatter.
“Well, I’m very experienced, and, well, you’re a newbie at these games,” Kiyo grinned menacingly, a grin that the younger decided was her trademark smirk. “That, and you seem to have already established a well diversified team that will do you well when your Pokemon evolve. Me, however…ha, one Lanturn with another water or ground and one fighting type could sweep my entire team.”
“Eh? Is it really that weak? And what’s a Lanturn?”
“Well, my team has some serious power behind it, really strong moves and the like, but since I favor fire types, that’s a bit of an issue. That’s why I try to keep Jolteon, Umbreon, and Gyrados around to deal with that fact.”
“I see…there seems to be so much to learn.”
“Ha, trust me, there is. I should get you a pocket guide or something of known Pokemon and their moves for you to study up on.”
“Sounds alright to me. Ahhh, so fulllll,” the blonde vouched, after clearing her plate clean to the last piece. The teen started in skepticism as to how her teammate could’ve finished the food off so quickly.
“Man, you can eat for a tiny twig.”
“Ha, I may not have a lot that I like to eat, but I do like to eat a lot,” Mewster grinned.
“I guess…” With a sarcastic chuckle and a shake of her head, she returned to shoving her breakfast into her mouth. “…mmph. God, that was good. Coulda gone for another pancake, but…ah well. Check, please.” As though she lived for the call, one of the nurse-waiters flew around to their seats, collected their dishes, and left the check. The two trainers then rummaged through their bags to split the bill, but a voice caught them off guard.
“Nono, I’ll pay for it.” Gazing up, the duo caught a glance of Kara fitted in what must have been her normal attire; a long, thin-sleeved, crimson red shirt graced her body, making her emerald eyes pop up wildly. Her white skirt reached her fingertip length, though she quickly brought her hand up in a friendly wave. Her other hand was tightly wrapped around a surprisingly large drawstring tote slung over her shoulder. A headband swept back her shoulder-length chestnut hair. She shuffled around somewhat anxiously on a worn pair of Silph Co. Sprinting Sneakers.
“Wait, what? Why? There’s no need, though thank you for the offer…” Kiyo swatted her hand, but the brunette continued with her insistence.
“Really! I wanted to thank you for listening to my story and all of that!” the nurse beamed, rummaging around in her bag.
“…hey,” the blonde questioned.
“Yeah?” the young teen turned to the gifted one with expectant eyes.
“You want…something from us, don’t you?” Crystal muttered, and at that Kara froze.
“How’d you…know?”
“Maaan, talk about being psychic or something,” Kiyo whistled.
“Yeah, it was a feeling.”
“Well…” Bashfully, the girl only three years or so older than Crystal turned her head to the floor, nearly walking away in shame of herself. “Well, I noticed and knew that you two were really nice people, just the way that you held yourselves and that you were pretty strong and all of that. And, you even listened to my story, my rant on Team Missile. And I just sorta hoped that maybe I could…tag along with you guys, and see if I couldn’t become stronger, so I can help out my family back in Zenith, and give them something to be proud of.”
“Kara…” Kiyo started, but she was cut off.
“I promise I won’t be too big a burden!” Suddenly, the nurse spun around, tears welding up in her eyes dramatically. “I have all of my own supplies and I know how to make some medicine if you run out of some during the adventure from my experience here at the center! Isn’t there strength in numbers, anyways? Please, I beg of you! Let me join on your quest with you!” And, with that, she bowed, hands clasped together over her heart. Bewildered, the pair gazed absentmindedly at each other. What are we supposed to say to that…? Obviously the poor girl’s feeling desperate to make her dream come true, but what about my gift and Kiyo’s notoriety against Team Missile…? For all we know, she can be lying and be part of Team Missile or something, who would betray us somewhere down the line. Then again, she does know a lot about medicine and Pokemon, and my gut is buzzing with the fact that she could be trusted enough to let her join me and Kiyo and become good company…
“Err, well, what about your job here? I mean, you’d have to give them two weeks notice, right?” Kiyo swiftly questioned, her metal eyes shooting a knowing glance to Crystal.
“Well, they understand my plight, and I’m just another sorta troublesome nurse. I’m sure they could find another if need be, really. Please?” After the final pleading, the two sighed and shook their heads. It was settled.
“Fine, I guess you can come with us, as long as you aren’t much trouble,” the fire trainer breathed out, and Kara immediately took a hold of her hands, eyes screaming gratitude.
“Oh, thank you, thank you so much! Really truly, you have no idea just how much this means to me! I promise, you won’t even know that I’m there! Ooh, I have to go talk with my boss really quick, and then I can leave whenever you guys are ready!” she squealed, and sprinted off as though having used Extremespeed. Kiyo broke into a light sweat.
“She talks a lot. I don’t know if this was a good idea or not…”
“Well, she seems nice enough. My gut is saying that she’s not bad.”
“You never know, even with intuition. She could be part of Team Missile and be disguising herself and using this Pokemon Center as her cover.”
“True enough…I thought of that myself, along with the fact of keeping my little ability a secret.”
“Maybe you aren’t as naïve as we thought you to be at first.”
“Kiyo!”
“It was meant as a compliment! Geez! Look at you, getting all red over nothing!” The fire trainer boomed as her friend appeared furious. “Cute face you got on there. …but yeah, I was concerned about that too. Your bangs are bound to come up in conversation if she keeps up with this hyper babbling.”
“As are your eyes,” Crystal countered.
“And your Onyx Ball.” Suddenly, each breaking into a smile, the two continued to attempt to beat one another.
“And your far-too-friendly Skarmory.”
“And your Sergeant Pup, sir!”
“And your mobster Charmeleon, because he’s part of the family!”
“And your ghetto Oddish, fo’ rizzle!” Both cracked up after the mention of Flora; Oh, I don’t think I can top that one… “Man, we really are messed up, huh? Or at least our Pokemon are…”
“I wouldn’t vouch that our Pokemon are messed up and more personified than the normal Pokemon. Haha, but we are pretty messed up as far as trainers go.”
“And by that you mean you.”
“Hey!”
“Well, I’m not the one that can find out if an Oddish is part of the ‘Hood, anyways.”
“Kiyo! Oh gods! You’re so cruel! Poor Flora! I do hope she’s not listening!”
“Ha, well your as guilty as she, Ms. I’m-laughing-my-pants-off-right-now.”
“You are too!”
“Did I miss anything?” Kara abruptly stopped the giggle fit that had taken the youngest Hikara and Dustren over, and they gazed at the figure. She had clipped her trainer’s belt with a normal Pokeball and a Great Ball over her long shirt, which left her skirt only a foot visible. A large smile was plastered upon her face. “I talked to my boss; he was all up and willing to see me on my way and give me some medicine ingredients for the journey.”
“Well, that’s good. The road to Zenith is still plenty long. We’ve only gotten a quarter of the way there, maybe and probably less,” the fire trainer nodded. “We’re going to have to stock up ourselves, Crystal.”
“Joy.”
“Penny pincher,” Kiyo sneered and chuckled.
“So, um, I think we should all let our Pokemon meet their new companions and the like, no?” Kara asked, and with a wide eyed look to each other, the two burst into laughter. “…huh?”
“Oh, this oughta get good. We should go to the water’s side to do it, considering I have a water type.”
“There’s no way you’re letting that…Jormungand or whatever its name is out, are you?”
“If you’re taking out Flora, I have every right to take him out. Besides, it’s about time you got acquainted with my little friend.”
“Little friend, my…”
“Sounds as though your Pokemon have some pretty interesting personalities going on. Oh, I can’t wait!”
“Trust me, after you meet them, you’ll be rolling your eyes at our motley crew…” the blonde had a small titter, before she and Kiyo removed themselves from the bench, leaving Kara to keep her word and pay the bill.
“Blah. All this salt in the air is making me a little dizzy.” Kiyo muttered, grumbling.
“You have too many fire Pokemon for your own good, that’s what,” Mewster poked her.
“So, you specialize in fire types, Kiyo?” the brunette breathily spoke, though having no problem keeping up with their hasty pace.
“Yeah, I’d say so. They’re really strong, and can learn all sorts of moves, and so it’s really helpful to have them around, though I do have the occasional other type.”
“Like?”
“Oh, I have a Jolteon, Skarmory, Gyarados, and Umbreon that bounce around in my party a little bit, depending on when I need them. I have a ton of other Pokemon besides the ones in my party, but I still like fire types the most.”
“I can’t blame you. I like fire types myself, as well as fighting types. Blaziken and Infernape are really cool, and I hope to have both one day.”
“Tch!…Chimchar…” the fire trainer scoffed. Evidently she’s not too fond of them, Crystal noted.
“Huh?”
“Nevermind.”
“What about you, Crystal? Or is Chris fine, or something like that?”
“Crystal. Just…Crystal,” she grinned, though she put great emphasis and heaviness on ‘just Crystal’, eyeing her elder teenager friend. “Er, I only really recently started my adventure, so I only have a few Pokemon.”
“Which ones?”
“You’ll get to see them, shortly enough. So, you said you like fire types, like Kiyo?”
“Oh, yeah. I grew up in a warm climate. Why not? Hee. Of course, I only have one now, because of those Missiles, but other than that, I do have a cool Pokemon I think you two will like.”
“Hmm?”
“Yeah! He’s a Scyther…well, I won’t get into details right now. Best you see for yourselves,” her smile was endless.
“Well, you sure have my interest…” Crystal nodded, though Kiyo remained silent, leading them to a low-key dock. The bustle of the town was replaced by the gentle lap of the waves against the wood of the pier and the occasional cry of a Wingull. And, appearing a little sick even from the sight of the ocean, the experienced trainer spun around to look at them.
“Alright, I guess we’ll show each other our Pokemon, then…” With a snicker, she unhooked all of her Pokeballs, pulling a balancing act of three orbs in each hand before sending them skyward. “Hey guys, come out to say hi to our new travelling companion and her Pokemon.”
“Right, likewise!” Crystal cried, and held out her Pokeballs. Kara made no sort of battle cry, but withdrew her Pokeball and Great Ball and whipped them at the ground. In an explosion of light and materialization, the twelve Pokemon came to be.
“Mmmmm, moooorning!” Dragola stretched out in the bright sunlight, before her violet eyes reflected widely in the waves. Seconds later she was back in her natural habitat.
“Ugh, I dun be doin’ mornings, Homey-C. This be good, I hope…” Flora moaned, wincing at the bright light, much like the silent Umbree did.
“Kiyo!” Skarmory cried happily, finally released from his prison, immediately nuzzling up against her.
“Yeah, yeah. Nice to see you too…” Kiyo rolled her eyes whilst rubbing the bird’s aluminum feathers. Flareon stretched out and yawned, much in a cat-like manner.
“Hikara, Sergeant Pup reporting for duty. Oh, HELLO, sir…” The dog’s eyes boggled as he caught sight of the massive Gyarados. The mammoth serpent bellowed menacingly.
“What’chu be sirring about this ti-OH SANAPS SON!” Flora freaked out, hiding quickly behind her trainer. “That be one big fish, fo’ rizzle!” Even Crystal faltered in her steps as the sea dragon bent in, glaring at his trainer.
“Kiyooouuu! Ye haven’t been givin’ meh any more food lately! Ye starving mah slowly but surely? I’m hurt! Ye’d bettar make it up to meh, ye child!” The Gyarados, named for some Norse god, spoke in a heavy Scottish accent.
“Hiya Jormy. Are you mad for not getting out? Ah ha… I’m sorry about that, bud. You know there are barely any water bodies big enough around here to sustain you, though. Oh, and I suppose you’re hungry as usual, you glutton…” Kiyo chuckled, petting his angered snout lightly before she stooped over her bag. Rummaging around, she pulled out the container holding leftovers from breakfast. Laying it out like a gourmet feast, the Gyarados quickly changed his tune and affectionately roared. “There ya go, bud. All set.”
“Oh, wow. You guys have a lot of rare Pokemon! I haven’t even seen a metallic bird before in Beghta!” Kara squealed with delight, and Crystal, Kiyo, and their teams gazed at her Pokemon. Of course, Kiyo swiftly reacted.
“Whoa!”
Whoa indeed! Beside the Combusken that stood next to her, there posed the Scyther she had said she had caught. The Scyther, which normally had a thick Kelley green painted on its body to provide camouflage in the wild, was a distinct and vivid darker green. Its segment joiners, unlike their normal peachy tone, were a ruby red, drawing attention to the clashing creature. The creature pleased Crystal to no end; she had never seen a Scyther in real life, let alone one of such vivid colors.
“Yeah, isn’t he cool? I noticed him randomly on my way through the Eclipse Woods near home one day and though it was a struggle, I caught him. His name is Zaika,” the brunette bragged, though something twitched upon her forehead.
“That’s so cool. I have to admit, this is the first time I’ve seen a differently colored Scyther before,” the fire trainer examined.
“Huh?” the youngest, never hearing such a term before, had her curiosity piqued.
“Well, this time I don’t blame you for not knowing what a differently colored Pokemon is.” Again, Dustren managed to hit Crystal’s delicate nerves and enrage her. “Ha, differently colored Pokemon are Pokemon outside of their typical breeding colors. I mentioned the white Hiune to you, right? Normally, Hiune are reddish in color, like Vulpix. Of course, you can see some Pokemon that have a few color changes, like your Dragola is noticably lighter and brighter blue than most Dratini. These aren’t differently colored-”
“Wait, Crystal has a Dratini?! Oh, that’s a must-see! I’ve only thought them to be legends!” the brunette interjected.
“She dove off into the water somewhere. She hasn’t been in the water much either…” the gifted trainer rubbed the back of her neck somewhat sheepishly, gazing off down at the murky water.
“Well, anyways, here’s my Combusken, too.” Kara nodded, and the Combusken gave a small nod, though her eyes were locked on a certain Pokemon.
“That have to be the freakin’ largest fish I be ever seein’, fo’ sho...” Flora cautiously stepped out into the open, realizing that the Gyarados wasn’t going to eat her alive.
“That’s definitely a ten-four,” the Poochyena slowly withdrew himself as well.
“Whazzawha? Speak in English, dawg!”
“Why don’t you for a change, weed?” Cautiously, Kara turned her gaze to the creatures.
“Ah ha. This is Flora and Sergeant Pup, and you already met Flare,” Crystal sweated, watching as dog and plant prepared to duke it out again.
“Sergeant Pup…?” the new member of their group interrogated ludicrously.
“Don’t ask where she gets those names. Even I couldn’t tell you. Anyways, here’s Umbree, Blaze, Skarmory- no, get off of me! Gah! I can’t breath!- Er, those three, Arcanum, Jormungand, and Flareon. …Gods, Skar! Stop trying to smother me! I realize you love me, but this is too much! …Ahh!” The trainer was nearly pushed clear off the dock; if it wasn’t for her swift hands that wrapped themselves around the metal bird’s neck, she would’ve been drenched in the salted water. A pained sort of fear overcame her eyes, as she struggled back to her feet, hyperventilating. Umbree looked on, and briskly ran over in his gallant strides to make sure his trainer was fine.
“Kiyo? Are you ok?” Crystal rose an eyebrow.
“Yeah, sure. Fine. Just…don’t like water a whole lot…” she swept a few beads of sweat off her forehead, before regaining her composure.
“Well, it definitely sounds as though we have quite the little crew going on here, no?” Kara tried extremely hard to get Kiyo’s near drink off their minds. “Though I’m not quite sure what exactly is going on with each Pokemon here…”
“Ha, well, I’m pretty sure Sergeant Pup has military complex or something like that. As for Flora, my guess is that she came from the ‘Hood, if you catch my drift.” Crystal muttered, sharing a snicker with her elder friend.
“How do you assume that?” The gifted one’s heart leapt, as the question the medic had asked was a little intimidating.
“Ah, well, just sort of the way that they hold themselves, you know? Flora, she makes these expressions with her leaves, and the tone of her voice and all of that. Yeah. And look at how well Serge. Pup holds himself, and yet barks so loudly directly into her face.”
“…Huh. I wouldn’t of guessed. Wait, lemme think- if you say the Oddish is ghetto and the Poochyena a sergeant from some sort of Pokemon army, that makes your Torchic Scottish, right?”
“Ah ha, I wasn’t thinking Flare...” the one with the pink bangs closed her eyes to hide the anger she held at herself with them. Her finger wrapped wildly around a strand of blonde hair.
“Well, describing all of our Pokemon’s personalities would take too long, and I really think we should get back on track here. If we are to make it to Apollo Bridge by the end of the next week, we’re going to have to stock up now or never, and get out of the town soon,” the sable-haired trainer nodded to the both of them, though she gave a peculiar look at the blue-eyed girl, which was more than likely to prevent her from saying something outlandish and making her spill her secret. Crystal was more than thankful for the cover-up.
“Ah, yeah. Might want to do that,” the young girl nodded, and Kara sighed.
“Fine, I have a few things to do in town until then, anyways. I’ll meet up with you at the western gate then?”
“Sure.”
“Alright, then, I’ll see you then!” With her earnest smile and green eyes gleaming, she stampeded off into the town, leaving the two alone once more.
“I wonder if that girl’s supposed to be on medication for hyperactivity or something of that nature…still, Crystal, you ought to be more careful about nearly handing your secret over to people you don’t know.”
“Yeah, yeah, but I was sort of preoccupied by World War III, the Hood versus the Service over there,” she tilted her head over towards the battling Pokemon. “That and your Gyarados. By the legendaries...”
“Whaat? I told you he was a glutton.”
“No, he just sounded as though he was…Scottish.”
“Are you joking.”
“No, sadly. Very thick Scottish or Irish accent, though probably the former. Still…You never told me that you had hydrophobia.”
“What makes you think that?!” Kiyo suddenly planted her feet, offended.
“Nothing, it’s just you really sort of wigged out when you nearly fell in there.”
“Wouldn’t anyone else?”
“For a second, but I thought you were having a heart attack or something of that nature after the fact.”
“I’m fine. Me and water just don’t get along well…” She breathed out hard, watching as her hair caught in the humidified wind.
“And I say it again; you spend far too much time around fire types, Kiyo.”
“I don’t see you jumping into the ocean right this second.”
“That’s cus I don’t have a bathing suit. Other than that, I’d be right in there with Dragola. One of the best swimmers from Dawndew,” Mewster proudly thumbed at her chest. “Only ones that were better were Kira and Worki, and Worki doesn’t count because he’s a water type…”
“Maybe, though the sea is a dangerous place. Not looking forward to crossing the ocean for Midnight and Torrentpour with you…” the elder mumbled, gawking off into the distance to where the market was now bustling and thriving with activity and produce. “Come on. We’re going to need a lot for the road ahead, especially if Team Missile has a stronghold on Zenith, as well as its marts…” Kiyo finally managed to get Skarmory off of her shoulder, and recalled all six with skill.
“Ah, I’m gonna be so broke after this…” the gifted trainer whined, recalling all her Pokemon, and sulking after the gold and silver-eyed trainer.
“Deal with it. You and your penny-pinching days are over, missy.”
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Chapter 12- Two's Company, Three's a Party
“Mmmm, wish I slept longer. That bed felt goooood.”
“You slept for another two hours, girl. You don’t need any more. If anything, I need more sleep after that long war with Team Missile.”
“I’m ten. You’re seventeen. I’m still growing. Studies show you need sleep to-”
“Oh, shove a sock into it, Ms. Factoid,” the mentor rolled her oddly colored eyes, before returning to her brunch plate of pancakes and bacon, along with a side of home fries. Crystal had a similar plate, though she seemed a tad preoccupied.
“You know, for our age difference and all of that, we’re pretty similar.”
“Mmm?” the elder paused, munching on a strip of fried pig.
“Well, we both have older siblings and we’re the youngest, we like a lot of the same foods, and we both hate Team Missile.”
“Ha, yeah. We’re probably a lot more alike than we think, too. That’s normally how it works out. As for the whole Pokemon dealie, you and I, ha, we couldn’t be further apart.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Crystal defensively shoved her fork down to her plate with a clatter.
“Well, I’m very experienced, and, well, you’re a newbie at these games,” Kiyo grinned menacingly, a grin that the younger decided was her trademark smirk. “That, and you seem to have already established a well diversified team that will do you well when your Pokemon evolve. Me, however…ha, one Lanturn with another water or ground and one fighting type could sweep my entire team.”
“Eh? Is it really that weak? And what’s a Lanturn?”
“Well, my team has some serious power behind it, really strong moves and the like, but since I favor fire types, that’s a bit of an issue. That’s why I try to keep Jolteon, Umbreon, and Gyrados around to deal with that fact.”
“I see…there seems to be so much to learn.”
“Ha, trust me, there is. I should get you a pocket guide or something of known Pokemon and their moves for you to study up on.”
“Sounds alright to me. Ahhh, so fulllll,” the blonde vouched, after clearing her plate clean to the last piece. The teen started in skepticism as to how her teammate could’ve finished the food off so quickly.
“Man, you can eat for a tiny twig.”
“Ha, I may not have a lot that I like to eat, but I do like to eat a lot,” Mewster grinned.
“I guess…” With a sarcastic chuckle and a shake of her head, she returned to shoving her breakfast into her mouth. “…mmph. God, that was good. Coulda gone for another pancake, but…ah well. Check, please.” As though she lived for the call, one of the nurse-waiters flew around to their seats, collected their dishes, and left the check. The two trainers then rummaged through their bags to split the bill, but a voice caught them off guard.
“Nono, I’ll pay for it.” Gazing up, the duo caught a glance of Kara fitted in what must have been her normal attire; a long, thin-sleeved, crimson red shirt graced her body, making her emerald eyes pop up wildly. Her white skirt reached her fingertip length, though she quickly brought her hand up in a friendly wave. Her other hand was tightly wrapped around a surprisingly large drawstring tote slung over her shoulder. A headband swept back her shoulder-length chestnut hair. She shuffled around somewhat anxiously on a worn pair of Silph Co. Sprinting Sneakers.
“Wait, what? Why? There’s no need, though thank you for the offer…” Kiyo swatted her hand, but the brunette continued with her insistence.
“Really! I wanted to thank you for listening to my story and all of that!” the nurse beamed, rummaging around in her bag.
“…hey,” the blonde questioned.
“Yeah?” the young teen turned to the gifted one with expectant eyes.
“You want…something from us, don’t you?” Crystal muttered, and at that Kara froze.
“How’d you…know?”
“Maaan, talk about being psychic or something,” Kiyo whistled.
“Yeah, it was a feeling.”
“Well…” Bashfully, the girl only three years or so older than Crystal turned her head to the floor, nearly walking away in shame of herself. “Well, I noticed and knew that you two were really nice people, just the way that you held yourselves and that you were pretty strong and all of that. And, you even listened to my story, my rant on Team Missile. And I just sorta hoped that maybe I could…tag along with you guys, and see if I couldn’t become stronger, so I can help out my family back in Zenith, and give them something to be proud of.”
“Kara…” Kiyo started, but she was cut off.
“I promise I won’t be too big a burden!” Suddenly, the nurse spun around, tears welding up in her eyes dramatically. “I have all of my own supplies and I know how to make some medicine if you run out of some during the adventure from my experience here at the center! Isn’t there strength in numbers, anyways? Please, I beg of you! Let me join on your quest with you!” And, with that, she bowed, hands clasped together over her heart. Bewildered, the pair gazed absentmindedly at each other. What are we supposed to say to that…? Obviously the poor girl’s feeling desperate to make her dream come true, but what about my gift and Kiyo’s notoriety against Team Missile…? For all we know, she can be lying and be part of Team Missile or something, who would betray us somewhere down the line. Then again, she does know a lot about medicine and Pokemon, and my gut is buzzing with the fact that she could be trusted enough to let her join me and Kiyo and become good company…
“Err, well, what about your job here? I mean, you’d have to give them two weeks notice, right?” Kiyo swiftly questioned, her metal eyes shooting a knowing glance to Crystal.
“Well, they understand my plight, and I’m just another sorta troublesome nurse. I’m sure they could find another if need be, really. Please?” After the final pleading, the two sighed and shook their heads. It was settled.
“Fine, I guess you can come with us, as long as you aren’t much trouble,” the fire trainer breathed out, and Kara immediately took a hold of her hands, eyes screaming gratitude.
“Oh, thank you, thank you so much! Really truly, you have no idea just how much this means to me! I promise, you won’t even know that I’m there! Ooh, I have to go talk with my boss really quick, and then I can leave whenever you guys are ready!” she squealed, and sprinted off as though having used Extremespeed. Kiyo broke into a light sweat.
“She talks a lot. I don’t know if this was a good idea or not…”
“Well, she seems nice enough. My gut is saying that she’s not bad.”
“You never know, even with intuition. She could be part of Team Missile and be disguising herself and using this Pokemon Center as her cover.”
“True enough…I thought of that myself, along with the fact of keeping my little ability a secret.”
“Maybe you aren’t as naïve as we thought you to be at first.”
“Kiyo!”
“It was meant as a compliment! Geez! Look at you, getting all red over nothing!” The fire trainer boomed as her friend appeared furious. “Cute face you got on there. …but yeah, I was concerned about that too. Your bangs are bound to come up in conversation if she keeps up with this hyper babbling.”
“As are your eyes,” Crystal countered.
“And your Onyx Ball.” Suddenly, each breaking into a smile, the two continued to attempt to beat one another.
“And your far-too-friendly Skarmory.”
“And your Sergeant Pup, sir!”
“And your mobster Charmeleon, because he’s part of the family!”
“And your ghetto Oddish, fo’ rizzle!” Both cracked up after the mention of Flora; Oh, I don’t think I can top that one… “Man, we really are messed up, huh? Or at least our Pokemon are…”
“I wouldn’t vouch that our Pokemon are messed up and more personified than the normal Pokemon. Haha, but we are pretty messed up as far as trainers go.”
“And by that you mean you.”
“Hey!”
“Well, I’m not the one that can find out if an Oddish is part of the ‘Hood, anyways.”
“Kiyo! Oh gods! You’re so cruel! Poor Flora! I do hope she’s not listening!”
“Ha, well your as guilty as she, Ms. I’m-laughing-my-pants-off-right-now.”
“You are too!”
“Did I miss anything?” Kara abruptly stopped the giggle fit that had taken the youngest Hikara and Dustren over, and they gazed at the figure. She had clipped her trainer’s belt with a normal Pokeball and a Great Ball over her long shirt, which left her skirt only a foot visible. A large smile was plastered upon her face. “I talked to my boss; he was all up and willing to see me on my way and give me some medicine ingredients for the journey.”
“Well, that’s good. The road to Zenith is still plenty long. We’ve only gotten a quarter of the way there, maybe and probably less,” the fire trainer nodded. “We’re going to have to stock up ourselves, Crystal.”
“Joy.”
“Penny pincher,” Kiyo sneered and chuckled.
“So, um, I think we should all let our Pokemon meet their new companions and the like, no?” Kara asked, and with a wide eyed look to each other, the two burst into laughter. “…huh?”
“Oh, this oughta get good. We should go to the water’s side to do it, considering I have a water type.”
“There’s no way you’re letting that…Jormungand or whatever its name is out, are you?”
“If you’re taking out Flora, I have every right to take him out. Besides, it’s about time you got acquainted with my little friend.”
“Little friend, my…”
“Sounds as though your Pokemon have some pretty interesting personalities going on. Oh, I can’t wait!”
“Trust me, after you meet them, you’ll be rolling your eyes at our motley crew…” the blonde had a small titter, before she and Kiyo removed themselves from the bench, leaving Kara to keep her word and pay the bill.
“Blah. All this salt in the air is making me a little dizzy.” Kiyo muttered, grumbling.
“You have too many fire Pokemon for your own good, that’s what,” Mewster poked her.
“So, you specialize in fire types, Kiyo?” the brunette breathily spoke, though having no problem keeping up with their hasty pace.
“Yeah, I’d say so. They’re really strong, and can learn all sorts of moves, and so it’s really helpful to have them around, though I do have the occasional other type.”
“Like?”
“Oh, I have a Jolteon, Skarmory, Gyarados, and Umbreon that bounce around in my party a little bit, depending on when I need them. I have a ton of other Pokemon besides the ones in my party, but I still like fire types the most.”
“I can’t blame you. I like fire types myself, as well as fighting types. Blaziken and Infernape are really cool, and I hope to have both one day.”
“Tch!…Chimchar…” the fire trainer scoffed. Evidently she’s not too fond of them, Crystal noted.
“Huh?”
“Nevermind.”
“What about you, Crystal? Or is Chris fine, or something like that?”
“Crystal. Just…Crystal,” she grinned, though she put great emphasis and heaviness on ‘just Crystal’, eyeing her elder teenager friend. “Er, I only really recently started my adventure, so I only have a few Pokemon.”
“Which ones?”
“You’ll get to see them, shortly enough. So, you said you like fire types, like Kiyo?”
“Oh, yeah. I grew up in a warm climate. Why not? Hee. Of course, I only have one now, because of those Missiles, but other than that, I do have a cool Pokemon I think you two will like.”
“Hmm?”
“Yeah! He’s a Scyther…well, I won’t get into details right now. Best you see for yourselves,” her smile was endless.
“Well, you sure have my interest…” Crystal nodded, though Kiyo remained silent, leading them to a low-key dock. The bustle of the town was replaced by the gentle lap of the waves against the wood of the pier and the occasional cry of a Wingull. And, appearing a little sick even from the sight of the ocean, the experienced trainer spun around to look at them.
“Alright, I guess we’ll show each other our Pokemon, then…” With a snicker, she unhooked all of her Pokeballs, pulling a balancing act of three orbs in each hand before sending them skyward. “Hey guys, come out to say hi to our new travelling companion and her Pokemon.”
“Right, likewise!” Crystal cried, and held out her Pokeballs. Kara made no sort of battle cry, but withdrew her Pokeball and Great Ball and whipped them at the ground. In an explosion of light and materialization, the twelve Pokemon came to be.
“Mmmmm, moooorning!” Dragola stretched out in the bright sunlight, before her violet eyes reflected widely in the waves. Seconds later she was back in her natural habitat.
“Ugh, I dun be doin’ mornings, Homey-C. This be good, I hope…” Flora moaned, wincing at the bright light, much like the silent Umbree did.
“Kiyo!” Skarmory cried happily, finally released from his prison, immediately nuzzling up against her.
“Yeah, yeah. Nice to see you too…” Kiyo rolled her eyes whilst rubbing the bird’s aluminum feathers. Flareon stretched out and yawned, much in a cat-like manner.
“Hikara, Sergeant Pup reporting for duty. Oh, HELLO, sir…” The dog’s eyes boggled as he caught sight of the massive Gyarados. The mammoth serpent bellowed menacingly.
“What’chu be sirring about this ti-OH SANAPS SON!” Flora freaked out, hiding quickly behind her trainer. “That be one big fish, fo’ rizzle!” Even Crystal faltered in her steps as the sea dragon bent in, glaring at his trainer.
“Kiyooouuu! Ye haven’t been givin’ meh any more food lately! Ye starving mah slowly but surely? I’m hurt! Ye’d bettar make it up to meh, ye child!” The Gyarados, named for some Norse god, spoke in a heavy Scottish accent.
“Hiya Jormy. Are you mad for not getting out? Ah ha… I’m sorry about that, bud. You know there are barely any water bodies big enough around here to sustain you, though. Oh, and I suppose you’re hungry as usual, you glutton…” Kiyo chuckled, petting his angered snout lightly before she stooped over her bag. Rummaging around, she pulled out the container holding leftovers from breakfast. Laying it out like a gourmet feast, the Gyarados quickly changed his tune and affectionately roared. “There ya go, bud. All set.”
“Oh, wow. You guys have a lot of rare Pokemon! I haven’t even seen a metallic bird before in Beghta!” Kara squealed with delight, and Crystal, Kiyo, and their teams gazed at her Pokemon. Of course, Kiyo swiftly reacted.
“Whoa!”
Whoa indeed! Beside the Combusken that stood next to her, there posed the Scyther she had said she had caught. The Scyther, which normally had a thick Kelley green painted on its body to provide camouflage in the wild, was a distinct and vivid darker green. Its segment joiners, unlike their normal peachy tone, were a ruby red, drawing attention to the clashing creature. The creature pleased Crystal to no end; she had never seen a Scyther in real life, let alone one of such vivid colors.
“Yeah, isn’t he cool? I noticed him randomly on my way through the Eclipse Woods near home one day and though it was a struggle, I caught him. His name is Zaika,” the brunette bragged, though something twitched upon her forehead.
“That’s so cool. I have to admit, this is the first time I’ve seen a differently colored Scyther before,” the fire trainer examined.
“Huh?” the youngest, never hearing such a term before, had her curiosity piqued.
“Well, this time I don’t blame you for not knowing what a differently colored Pokemon is.” Again, Dustren managed to hit Crystal’s delicate nerves and enrage her. “Ha, differently colored Pokemon are Pokemon outside of their typical breeding colors. I mentioned the white Hiune to you, right? Normally, Hiune are reddish in color, like Vulpix. Of course, you can see some Pokemon that have a few color changes, like your Dragola is noticably lighter and brighter blue than most Dratini. These aren’t differently colored-”
“Wait, Crystal has a Dratini?! Oh, that’s a must-see! I’ve only thought them to be legends!” the brunette interjected.
“She dove off into the water somewhere. She hasn’t been in the water much either…” the gifted trainer rubbed the back of her neck somewhat sheepishly, gazing off down at the murky water.
“Well, anyways, here’s my Combusken, too.” Kara nodded, and the Combusken gave a small nod, though her eyes were locked on a certain Pokemon.
“That have to be the freakin’ largest fish I be ever seein’, fo’ sho...” Flora cautiously stepped out into the open, realizing that the Gyarados wasn’t going to eat her alive.
“That’s definitely a ten-four,” the Poochyena slowly withdrew himself as well.
“Whazzawha? Speak in English, dawg!”
“Why don’t you for a change, weed?” Cautiously, Kara turned her gaze to the creatures.
“Ah ha. This is Flora and Sergeant Pup, and you already met Flare,” Crystal sweated, watching as dog and plant prepared to duke it out again.
“Sergeant Pup…?” the new member of their group interrogated ludicrously.
“Don’t ask where she gets those names. Even I couldn’t tell you. Anyways, here’s Umbree, Blaze, Skarmory- no, get off of me! Gah! I can’t breath!- Er, those three, Arcanum, Jormungand, and Flareon. …Gods, Skar! Stop trying to smother me! I realize you love me, but this is too much! …Ahh!” The trainer was nearly pushed clear off the dock; if it wasn’t for her swift hands that wrapped themselves around the metal bird’s neck, she would’ve been drenched in the salted water. A pained sort of fear overcame her eyes, as she struggled back to her feet, hyperventilating. Umbree looked on, and briskly ran over in his gallant strides to make sure his trainer was fine.
“Kiyo? Are you ok?” Crystal rose an eyebrow.
“Yeah, sure. Fine. Just…don’t like water a whole lot…” she swept a few beads of sweat off her forehead, before regaining her composure.
“Well, it definitely sounds as though we have quite the little crew going on here, no?” Kara tried extremely hard to get Kiyo’s near drink off their minds. “Though I’m not quite sure what exactly is going on with each Pokemon here…”
“Ha, well, I’m pretty sure Sergeant Pup has military complex or something like that. As for Flora, my guess is that she came from the ‘Hood, if you catch my drift.” Crystal muttered, sharing a snicker with her elder friend.
“How do you assume that?” The gifted one’s heart leapt, as the question the medic had asked was a little intimidating.
“Ah, well, just sort of the way that they hold themselves, you know? Flora, she makes these expressions with her leaves, and the tone of her voice and all of that. Yeah. And look at how well Serge. Pup holds himself, and yet barks so loudly directly into her face.”
“…Huh. I wouldn’t of guessed. Wait, lemme think- if you say the Oddish is ghetto and the Poochyena a sergeant from some sort of Pokemon army, that makes your Torchic Scottish, right?”
“Ah ha, I wasn’t thinking Flare...” the one with the pink bangs closed her eyes to hide the anger she held at herself with them. Her finger wrapped wildly around a strand of blonde hair.
“Well, describing all of our Pokemon’s personalities would take too long, and I really think we should get back on track here. If we are to make it to Apollo Bridge by the end of the next week, we’re going to have to stock up now or never, and get out of the town soon,” the sable-haired trainer nodded to the both of them, though she gave a peculiar look at the blue-eyed girl, which was more than likely to prevent her from saying something outlandish and making her spill her secret. Crystal was more than thankful for the cover-up.
“Ah, yeah. Might want to do that,” the young girl nodded, and Kara sighed.
“Fine, I have a few things to do in town until then, anyways. I’ll meet up with you at the western gate then?”
“Sure.”
“Alright, then, I’ll see you then!” With her earnest smile and green eyes gleaming, she stampeded off into the town, leaving the two alone once more.
“I wonder if that girl’s supposed to be on medication for hyperactivity or something of that nature…still, Crystal, you ought to be more careful about nearly handing your secret over to people you don’t know.”
“Yeah, yeah, but I was sort of preoccupied by World War III, the Hood versus the Service over there,” she tilted her head over towards the battling Pokemon. “That and your Gyarados. By the legendaries...”
“Whaat? I told you he was a glutton.”
“No, he just sounded as though he was…Scottish.”
“Are you joking.”
“No, sadly. Very thick Scottish or Irish accent, though probably the former. Still…You never told me that you had hydrophobia.”
“What makes you think that?!” Kiyo suddenly planted her feet, offended.
“Nothing, it’s just you really sort of wigged out when you nearly fell in there.”
“Wouldn’t anyone else?”
“For a second, but I thought you were having a heart attack or something of that nature after the fact.”
“I’m fine. Me and water just don’t get along well…” She breathed out hard, watching as her hair caught in the humidified wind.
“And I say it again; you spend far too much time around fire types, Kiyo.”
“I don’t see you jumping into the ocean right this second.”
“That’s cus I don’t have a bathing suit. Other than that, I’d be right in there with Dragola. One of the best swimmers from Dawndew,” Mewster proudly thumbed at her chest. “Only ones that were better were Kira and Worki, and Worki doesn’t count because he’s a water type…”
“Maybe, though the sea is a dangerous place. Not looking forward to crossing the ocean for Midnight and Torrentpour with you…” the elder mumbled, gawking off into the distance to where the market was now bustling and thriving with activity and produce. “Come on. We’re going to need a lot for the road ahead, especially if Team Missile has a stronghold on Zenith, as well as its marts…” Kiyo finally managed to get Skarmory off of her shoulder, and recalled all six with skill.
“Ah, I’m gonna be so broke after this…” the gifted trainer whined, recalling all her Pokemon, and sulking after the gold and silver-eyed trainer.
“Deal with it. You and your penny-pinching days are over, missy.”
lol! I still like the way that Flora talks. She's like the Pokemon from the 70s.
lol..
Another interesting character.
I agree with DC. I still like Flora.
Kiyo doesn't like Chimchar?
Chimchar one of my favorites!
Another interesting character.
I agree with DC. I still like Flora.
Crystal Hikara said:
Kiyo doesn't like Chimchar?
Chimchar one of my favorites!
PMJ
Silhouette Gloom of the Sundown Lands
Forum Head
Articles Head
Elite Member
Advanced Member
Member
I noticed there's a lot of K names.
Gyarados is cool. I was amused by Crystal and Kiyo trying to one-up each other in chapter 11, lol.
I like this new girl, Kara.
Kiyo's Skarmory reminds me of James's insert Grass-type here. All cuddly and affectionate and NO GET OFF ME IT'S TIME TO BATTLE and all that. :>
Hope to see more soon.
Gyarados is cool. I was amused by Crystal and Kiyo trying to one-up each other in chapter 11, lol.
I like this new girl, Kara.
Kiyo's Skarmory reminds me of James's insert Grass-type here. All cuddly and affectionate and NO GET OFF ME IT'S TIME TO BATTLE and all that. :>
Hope to see more soon.
Hmm, no one's posted in a long time? Are you still continuing this fic?
Kiyo IRL hates Chimchar. X3 Hahaha. She doesn't mind Infernape, but I agree-I don't like Chimmy, especially after making a shiny plush of him. >_>
Blame the K names on Kiyo. Let's start naming her characters, shall we? Kiyo, Kaien, Kouta...XD Kara is short for 'Catherine'. Originally it was for a member of my native board, Sakura, but I didn't like the generic name, so I changed it to something similar.
I luv Jormy, but he's hard as a rock to write. :/ And yeah, lawls. They do that randomly.
orly? y u leiks her lol?
HAHAHA. No, most of James' Pokemon (at least with Victreebel, I recall) wanted to eat him. o.o But yeah, Skar = love. <3 He was the runt when Kiyo found him. Poor thing...
Yeah, yeah, just been busy with my shiny new Mew DS and Diamond, hahaha...MY B. >>' I have up to chapter 25 editeded...just mad lazy, of course.
I suppose I should post something and continue posting till chapter ~18
Chapter 13- Apollo's Wrath
“Not a lot on this route, eh?” Kara ended a long silence as they continued along the somewhat direct Route 49. Now with heavy bags for the roads ahead and knowing that a safe place to rest would not be in sight until they reached the other side of Apollo Bridge and turned to head up Route 50, the other two seemed a little more weary, and weren’t up for talking. Starly buzzed merrily in their flock within the great blue abyss lined with stratus clouds, headed for their homes in the fewer trees that lined the dirt road before them. Normal grass and earth mixed with dune grass and sand, and the sound of the ocean was the only lonely response to most anything the medic began with.
“Not really, besides the few odd Starly and Ratatta around,” Crystal murmured, pacific blue eyes darting at the sound of Pokemon in the woods, giving suspicious glares to the wandering company.
“Hmm, yeah…” Unnerved by the silence still, the two girl’s new teammate tried desperately to make small talk. “So, Kiyo, you lived in Johto at one point?”
“Mmm? Oh, yeah. I did,” she nodded, appearing a little annoyed.
“What was it like in that region?”
“Just like any other region- eight gym leaders to beat, Pokemon to catch exclusive to that region, trainers to battle. When you think about it, it’s not all that different from Beghta, really,” the eldest contemplated.
“Huh. Is that were you got your metal bird?”
“His name is Skarmory, and yeah.”
“How many other rare Pokemon were in the region?”
“Too many to count.”
“Did you win any badges?”
“That’s a dumb question, don’t you think?” Kiyo responded coldly, but Kara recovered quickly.
“Ha, of course. How silly of me. You do have an amazing strong look in your eyes, like your Pokemon.” If the girl was waiting for some sort of response, though, the fire trainer would not give her that satisfaction. Yet another silence overcame the group, and Kara sighed.
“Is it going to be this silent the entire journey?”
“Silent?” Crystal questioned, and before saying something stupid to incriminate her secret, Kiyo spoke.
“It is a little too quiet. I thought we would’ve seen some trainers before nearing Apollo Bridge, and night is falling fast.” Her eyes blinked at the sun, which was finally clambering down from its large throne in the sky to let the moon have its night.
“Huh?”
“Yeah, come to think of it, last time I came through Route 49 this area was chock full with trainers. I wonder what happened…” Kara muttered.
“Team Missile,” murmured Crystal. Neither one said anything after that, but Kiyo did nod her head ever so slightly at the girl. The thought of the bridge inching closer with every step they took sent frowns around the merry group. At last, the uneasiness was ended when a normal trainer jogged up to them, and rather young at his appearance. A pair of baggy shorts were the most prominent feature of the child, one Crystal knew well enough; it was the style of most elementary kids to dress like the elders and look ‘cool’ with baggy shorts, baseball caps on sideways and a hot attitude to match.
“Hey, are you trainers?!” he exclaimed wildly.
“Yes?” Kiyo answered incredulously.
“Then one of you will fight!” The kid withdrew two Pokeballs from his shorts’ pockets, shouting orders. “Who’ll it be?!”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Crystal snorted.
“I’ll take on the boy,” the new member of their party grinned, withdrawing her own Pokeball, but a hand stopped her.
“No. Crystal should get some experience before the next gym battle, and not from wild Pokemon or Missile Peons. Last time she got rather lucky in her first real Gym battle. I’m surprised she won…” the mentor nodded to the younger, who appeared both flattered and miffed at the same moment.
“I haven’t battled in a long time, though.”
“Crystal hasn’t battled against a normal trainer, period.” That seemed to settle that matter. Sighing, the pink-banged girl took up the plate, unlatching the first Pokeball from her belt.
“It’ll be a double battle, got it?” The youngster demanded, and Crystal faltered. She had never heard of a double battle before.
“What’s a double-” she started, but was cut off at the materialization of a Starly and a Zigzagoon, whom waited side by side each other, gazing at the trainer. “Er, ok…Sergeant Pup, and Flare, too, I guess you’re duking it out together!” She unclipped another Pokeball from her waist, and held them out. The youth scoffed at her rather bizarre way to call out her Pokemon, but come out they did. Staring at the two opponents, the Torchic and Poochyena gazed at each other, and then their trainer.
“Why are we both out, now?” the Serge questioned.
“I guess he wanted a double battle…? I have no idea what’s going on.” The fledging trainer whispered.
“Crystal, don’t even tell me…” Kiyo groaned. “Oh, Kara, I think this is going to get ugly really fast.”
“Why?”
“Mewster, you complete newb! How can you not know what a double battle is?!”
“Blame my mother!”
“Ha, looks like I’ll have the upper hand here!” the opposing trainer smirked. “You should be ashamed as a trainer, to not know what double battling is! I guess you’ll have to learn soon enough…Zip! Robin! Nail that Poochyena with a Tackle and that Torchic with a Peck!”
“Ahh, um, Sergeant Pup, take on that Zigzagoon with your own Tackle, and Flare, uhm, you Peck back!” Or something, the trainer sweated. She hadn’t even had the chance to check out Flare or the Serge’s movesets, and so she was, quite frankly, winging it. At this point, Kiyo muttered something about incompetence, and called out to Crystal, though it was barely enough for her to make out.
“You don’t even know those two’s movesets, do you?!”
“I’m working on finding it out!” Crystal wiped a bit of her perspiration away, watching as the Pokemon jumped into action. The tiny raccoon darted this way and that, finally making a leap and crashing into the dark dog. However, Serge. Pup seemed infuriated by the move and taking damage, for as soon as his paws hit the ground, he took off like wild fire, ramming the Pokemon back, and in a rather susceptible spot that made the Pokemon growl in pain. Meanwhile, Flare managed to take the peck well, though instead of jabbing back, she took mild flight on her tiny wings and raked at the Starly with her clawed feet. Both Pokemon gazed back at their trainers, and Crystal nodded for them to come into close hearing range, in which they quickly obeyed.
“Tackle, my honor! Is that all you got, Hikara?” growled the dog.
“I’m sorry, but I really didn’t even get a chance to ask what each of your moves are!” she hissed back.
“Can’t your Pokegear tell you that?” Flare chirped.
“No, it’s broken. I can barely get your levels to load, and how much health you have left.”
“I know Tackle and Howl. That’s all. Do you require any further knowledge of the sort?”
“Nope. What was that going on back there, though, Flare?”
“Scratch. I don’t learn Peck until I’ve fought several more battles, I believe. I do know Growl and Flamethrower, though I don’t suggest the latter except on especially hard opponents. This guy doesn’t seem to wise in his rash orders, however.”
“Ok, this is good to know.”
“Are you gonna comfort your poor Pokemon that just received petty damage or are you going to fight?!” the youngster roared.
“Kay guys. Serge, you power up with your Howl before you get in there and tackle the Zigzagoon. Flare, I need you to lower their attack levels with a Growl so that we won’t receive that much more damage, and then get back in there with Scratch, except aim for the Zigzagoon. Something tells me that it’ll go better if we can knock out one opponent and then take on the Starly separately,” Crystal whispered, and the two Pokemon leapt into action hastily.
“Zip! Tackle it again! Robin! Peck that Poochyena!” the challenger cried, and the Pokemon began to gain up on the pup. However, the newborn Torchic hopped upon the Bite Pokemon’s head, then began with her chipper song. The opponent’s Pokemon paused for a moment, before both seemed to nearly die of laughter. Well, there’s a sight! Singing as a defense for Sergeant Pup. It worked to some degree; they were so busy laughing at the cute song that their attacks lacked in the offensive department. Serge. Pup growled at the assaults that they had landed on him, but did jump back and recover himself well. The growl gradually became louder, and as he threw his head proudly into the sky, it grew in pitch, sounding eerie, but unlike last time, it did not unnerve Crystal. A blissful sort of power gleamed in his eyes, as he didn’t await for orders to jump on in there and give it his all on the tiny raccoon Pokemon, which staggered back in surprise. The Torchic then gracefully darted forward, sinking claws into fur and flesh, yet she made such carnage look…beautiful. They both did. Maybe that’s what makes the life of a trainer so harsh, to understand the beauty of this violence, and yet even with this fighting and scratching, I think I know why trainers want to go through with it all... Caught back in the midst of the battle, the youngster cried in protest of the events at hand.
“You’re cheating!” he whined, sobbing over his badly ruffled striped companion. “Zip, are you alright? Counter them with the same moves, you two! Take out that Poochyena!” The two rushed forward, though the small land creature seemed quite a bit haggard.
“I am not cheating! Agh! Well, Serge, I think that Zigzagoon is on his last legs. Go and take him down! Flare, I need you to decrease that Starly’s attack again with another Growl. After that, we’ll figure out where to go.”
“Ten-four, Hikara!” the dark dog grinned, and met the Zigzagoon in a head on collision. The pup slid back and quickly flipped onto his paws after the encounter, though the raccoon had to struggle substantially to raise up a paw, before it collapsed out of exhaustion. It did not appear as though it was getting back on its feet any time soon.
“Gah! No! Zip, return…” the youngster heaved, as the Pokemon disappeared. “Robin! Don’t give up on that Poochyena! I’m sure we have it on the ropes now!”
“What? The battle doesn’t become just one on one now?” Crystal rose an eyebrow.
“No. It may seem unfair, but the person whom loses their Pokemon to fainting has to fight with just one Pokemon unless they have others to replace the fallen teammate,” Kiyo murmured, barely audible for the girl to hear.
“It’s so cruel, though…” the youngest of the trio muttered, before returning to battle, watching as Sergeant Pup slurred out demeaning things at the attacking bird. He appeared weary. “Well, hopefully, two against one will allow them to do better…Sergeant Pup, Flare, combine your attacks on that Starly!” They nodded, and Flare carefully clambered up onto her teammate’s back. The youngster had to wonder what they were doing.
“Don’t let the two of them intimidate you, Robin! Peck back with all of your might and knock that dog off his feet!” the boy snarled, angered even more now that he was losing the match. However, as the bird swooped down from ahead, Flare made a high jump off of Sergeant’s back, taking the full force of the Peck for herself, though she swung her feet around to cut off a few feather bits. Squawking like mad, the bird flew closer to the ground, and after the fire chick had cleared the area, the serge dashed forward, causing the bird to fly no longer; the black and white starling slid to a stop at its owner’s feet, fast unconscious. The trainer gazed up in horror and aggravation at these events, and recalled the bird. “Dang it! There are too many strong trainers around here!” he screamed, and took off, but not before he threw a few crumbled up bills at the ground towards Crystal. As she walked over to her Pokemon’s side, she was delighted to see that it was money. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
“Do trainers always leave money after they battle, Kiyo?”
“Yeah, that’s typically the prize besides the normal experience your Pokemon earn from battling and winning.”
“Cool...” The student soon bent down towards her teammates, taking up some light conversation.
“Huh, so that was just some third-rate kid, then,” Kara sighed. “Maybe it was a good idea to have Crystal beat him, after all. I wouldn’t have won much of anything except a waste of time…”
“I calls em like I sees them,” Kiyo smirked. “You ready to head on out, my student?”
“Yeah, sure…let me just tend to Pup’s wounds first,” she replied, hastily yanking out a potion from her bag.
“Bah! I need no Potion. I’m absolutely in peak form,” A gray paw batted the bottle away as it came close.
“I bet your HP would disagree with you there,” Flare sung, and she received a dirty look from the pooch, though his wounds soon spoke for him. Gnawing on some dead hangclaw, he awaited for the potion to work its magic. He tilted his head from side to side for a moment, before he rose to all four paws, somewhat stiff in his movements.
“Targets have been annihilated. Mission successful,” he proudly barked.
“Uhh…that’s a ten-four, Serge? It was really just knocking them out. How are you holding out, Flare?”
“I’ll be fine. A few pecks is nothing ever to be concerned about.” She seemed to have shrunk into her thick fluffy down, preening occasionally here and there, though all together looking calm. Slowly with a kind look, she pecked lightly on her Pokeball, disappearing inside. Crystal gave a glance to the pup.
“What…? I’ll be staying out on duty for a nightly patrol, if that’s fine with you, Hikara.”
“As soon as you get noticeably tired, I’m recalling you,” she whispered, throwing a crystal eye back to Kara, trying to keep her voice down so she wouldn’t hear the bizarre speech flying from her mouth.
“Affirmative,” was his mere response, and the young trainer got to her feet, turning around.
“Ok. All set.”
“Excellent. To the base of Apollo Bridge it is,” Kiyo nodded, leading the group on west. The path once more became serene, and simple chitter-chatter didn’t seem up for grabs. Slowly, the road dimmed, their shadows elongated, and the longest bridge of the Beghta region came into sight about half a mile away. As the orange light flickered on the murky ocean water below said bridge, their senses were hit with a heavy, cool breeze, scented with pungent salt.
“Wow! It’s huge!” Crystal exclaimed. She had heard often of this fabled path across the water, but it was definitely a sight to behold with her own eyes.
“Yeah. Let’s set up camp here. I think that if we went any closer, Team Missile would be rather pleased with our appearance in the dark.” Kiyo had already called out Blaze, and he paused for a moment while there was a scurry to grab wood. His indigo gaze fell upon Kara somewhat intimidatingly. That just has to prove it…
The youngest of the group immediately knew for sure that Flare was the child of Charmeleon’s and Kara’s Combusken’s secret meetings with one another with a snicker. Kara gave a rather peculiar eye towards the girl, but didn’t bother to question it. As soon as they had enough wood, they started a small fire with the end of the lizard’s tail, embers causing the wood to lose moisture and catch flame. Without saying much and letting their Pokemon out around them to make watchful guards, the group laid out their bags and things and called it a night. Crystal didn’t sleep well again, but Umbree did settle by her once more after Kiyo was softly breathing and well unconscious. Eventually, sleep claimed her as well.
The next morning, they packed up somewhat quietly and efficiently. Crystal slipped a word to Kiyo, wondering if there had been an attack last night and if she had once again slept through it, but she was thankful when the response was ‘no’. Recalling their teams, they were once again on the road, and Apollo Bridge and its shining white building material shone brightly in the morning sun, nearly blinding them. Even with the beautiful spectacle, the gifted one knew that they had to be on their toes at all time if Team Missile did control the area. There seemed to be more trainer activity, Ratatta and Zigzagoon duking it out with one another, or a Koffing sparring with an Ekans. They all seemed enthralled in their battles, and barely batted an eyelash at the group of three as the bridge came ever so closer.
“I don’t like this,” Kiyo growled under her breath. “I would’ve thought to see a ton of trainers in the forest and on Route 49 and officially on Apollo Bridge, not this near to Apollo Bridge.”
“Do you think that they could be trainers from Team Missile?” Crystal glanced at trainers out of the corners of her eyes.
“They’re a bit young to be in Team Missile…mainly youngsters and the like. I don’t think Team Missile would try such a thing with little tykes,” Kara noticed.
“Unless they’re grown adults and merely midgets.”
“Kiyo! How could you say something-”
“Hey, trying to keep high spirits here,” she shrugged non-apologetically, before she returned to her grim state, noticing a few black-outfitted people run off into the woods ahead of them. “Oh, no. That’s no good…can’t have secret Missiles running around, can we?”
“Huh?”
“Some Peons just ran to the woods. They probably block the path for most trainers, but if they noticed that it was us, then they probably want us to continue on through the bridge and trap us there.”
“Huh?! Then what are we going to do?” Kara exclaimed wildly at the eldest’s speculation.
“Not much we can do…There’s no other path that we can access that leads to the area across the way. We have to cross the bridge.”
“Walk right into a trap? Oh, real nice, Kiyo.”
“Heh, well, I do have a rather large strong team. I’m sure we’ll be able to withstand them for long enough to cross the bridge in time,” she stuck her thumb up to the sky. “They’re pretty weak, really. I’m sure your training from the whole prepare-for-Ridgebrook dealie would be sufficient enough to protect you from at least the creeps around these parts. And I’m sure that a Scyther and a Combusken can hold their own in battle,” the teen snickered, and the girls had no other choice other than to concur and continue on.
The long bridge stood intimidatingly before them, stretching on for a straight few miles over a large sea bay. The pedestrian sidewalk was wide and well traveled, though the occasional bicycle did zoom down the large space in the middle. They passed through the empty gateway and out onto the bright pathway, eyeing everything that they could possibly see. Team Missile couldn’t hide anywhere, but the vast emptiness make them uneasy. The group of three were walking at a normal pace, but the feeling of being watched was more than they could take, and soon all of them broke out into a flat sprint. Kiyo was sure to pace herself so that the other two could keep up, and there was a small explosion. The bridge collapsed right behind them.
“What?!”
“Oh, by the legendaries…!”
“Don’t look back! Keep running!”
Given Kiyo’s heartless command and with bits of the bridge crumbling beneath where their feet were a few seconds before, all three were given an adrenaline rush and raced headlong towards the middle of the bridge. However, from above came a Missile, landing in front of their path. The fire trainer wasted no time whipping out Umbree. Trainer and Pokemon snarled in their own ways at the adversary.
“Get out of our path, less you feel the burn of defeat.” Her eyes narrowed, and the Umbreon’s rings flashed menacingly. The higher up Missile did nothing. He made no motion to withdraw one of three Missile Balls strapped on his belt. Crystal was quick to note the outfit he wore, associating it with Chris Johnson, the Missile Junior Admin. She was cowering behind Kiyo within seconds.
“…I have no intention of battling nor capturing you,” the young man clothed in the evil garb spoke, his quiet low voice drawing them in. The fire trainer gave a suspicious glare to the boy that couldn’t have been four years older than the blonde, and Umbree didn’t back down.
“You think you can fool us with that line? Think again,” she spat.
“…well then, what do I have to do to prove that I speak the truth? Buy you chocolates? Throw my arms up in the air and keep my hands where you can see them?” At which point, to put emphasis on his words, he did. “Now’s not the time for this, so listen carefully and keep it down if you want to make it out of here safely. Otherwise, a wall of Grunts awaits you ahead.” The trainers looked at one another. Surely this isn’t typical Missile behavior... The mentor, however, still appeared skeptical, and Umbree didn’t loosen in his tense pose.
“Why would you want to help us?” she questioned in a deadly low voice.
“Let’s just say that the special gifts in this world should be left free and out of the hands of evil,” he smiled, especially towards Crystal’s way. The girl and Dustren seemed taken aback by this, but Kara merely appeared confused beyond belief.
“What do you…never mind. Say what you want to, and quick,” the odd-eyed trainer rose an eyebrow.
“I have a Magneton. It will use a Thunder Wave on you.”
“What-”
“Do you want to make it out safely? Then at least let me finish my sentence.” Kiyo growled at that, but said nothing more. “I was about to say I’ll use Thunder Wave on an area near you, so it looks as though you and your Pokemon are paralyzed. In actuality, you’ll be fine, as long as you can fake collapsing to the ground realistically.” Slowly, he unlatched a Missile Ball from his belt. “After that, they will drag you to the end of the bridge, and the pathetic fools will be too busy sadistically savoring their victory. I will then provide some sort of distraction near the other side of the bridge, allowing you a window of time to escape. Take refuge at the Pokemon Center at the corner of the three routes until the next morning. It should be safe there.” He paused, before tossing forth his Missile Ball. In a gray flash, a Magneton materialized, floating in midair, various mechanical things screwing and unscrewing and magnets changing in their direction. It appeared very well cared after, unlike what other Missiles did with their Pokemon. “I wish for you to get out of this circumstance as easily as possible. If you decide against it, I have no choice otherwise but to use force and really take you in.” His voice suddenly rose. “Discharge, Tackle the Umbreon.”
“What? I thought you were going to-” the female of seventeen began angrily.
“I have to make it look like there’s an opening to use the attack. I can’t be making you look too pathetic…they may be sadistic, but they aren’t stupid little grunts.” he muttered, and watched as the dark type dashed to the side of the Tackle. His rings glowed, and he leapt backward, feigning being hurt. Confused, Discharge floated forward a little bit, ready for action, only to be lead into a head on collision with a Faint Attack. The magnet Pokemon didn’t falter back, though, and awaited his trainer’s orders.
“I don’t like this guy…” muttered Umbree, looking back to his trainer for a brief moment.
“This Missile…there’s some sort of suspicious air around him,” Kiyo muttered beneath her breath, barely audible for Crystal to catch. “Umbree, keep up with the Faint Attacks. You can outlast him…”
“Discharge, use a few Shock Waves to knock the Umbreon off balance. After that, let’s use your support move of Thunder Wave…” his voice suddenly dropped. “But purposely miss. Make it look as though it’s going to hit them.”
“Wait, what?!” More of the gold and silver shrunk back at the very order.
“What did he just say?!” Kara, likewise, interrogated with wide eyes.
“Yes, master.” The Pokemon spoke in a metallic, monotonous voice, and suddenly shot off sparks in all directions. The negative sparks became densely packed against the positively charged magnet, and they discharged rapidly, much like his nickname. The lightning arched along the ground with incredible speed, and as such Umbree could not evade it. He gave a small cry of pain, current surging through his blood, and he was knocked back; the moonlight Pokemon’s back paws slowed him down to a stop. He carefully rose to his feet, though he didn’t look that injured. Even with his Faint Attacks in hand, it was clear to see that the Umbreon didn’t have the advantage in battle. It soon became a battle of stunning accuracy, deceit and currents running through the air wildly. At one point, though, Umbree was keen to get up slowly.
“Umbree…!” Kiyo called out.
“Breee,” he growled, spitting at the ground a little as a hint.
“Now, Discharge,” the junior admin demanded, and Discharge began to set out pulses of energy out toward them. Kiyo made a rather valiant attempt to gather the tired Umbree in her arms, but in doing so she was plagued by the wave, and collapsed. Kiyo…?! Is she seriously paralyzed, or am I seeing things?! The Magneton, after it was done with those two, turned to the medic and gifted one, sending out the pulses again. Trying their best to make it look authentic, the girls locked their legs, and fell on their sides, wincing at how rough the fall was. They daren’t move, though, as Missile Grunts flooded in, taking their items and the like. The Junior Admin cleared a path, with various Grunts laughing and congratulating him on his stunning victory. His red eyes somewhat apologetically spoke to Crystal, as he swung her up onto his shoulder. She panicked, but had no choice to remain limp and appear helpless. The man spoke, making sure that the girl was tightly secured on his shoulder.
“Good job, men. Bring them, their Pokemon, and their items to the western edge of the bridge. I’ll have Ms. Nersu send for a vehicle to take them to the Zenith stronghold.” There were several cheers, and Crystal’s heart was pounding. We’re at the mercy of this man! What’s to say he isn’t going to go back against his word? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. That made the blonde sick to her stomach. She eyed her friends, whom were being hauled off like herself, appearing near unconscious. Umbree, however, was still struggling. It took a handful of Grunts and a few Pokemon to finally do him in. Kiyo winced and cried out slightly as the now sleeping eeveelution was dragged off.
Finally, they were thrown without much regard for their health against a cliff, which only helped to make themselves look even more helpless. Crystal landed gruffly a little ways away from her friends, and this Missile gazed at her, speaking. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep my word to you and your friends.”
“Why are you doing this?” she muttered with only a little movement from her head, still feigning paralysis. He sighed, before he ran a finger through her bangs, making her involuntarily twitch.
“You and I…you might know it, but we have more in common than you think. I must be off to create the distraction. …here’s to wishing we don’t have to meet again soon like this…” And, with that, he removed her bag, setting it among the rest of the groups things. Various grunts sorted and pillaged the contents.
“Man, these folks are rich! Look at miss fire trainer lady here. She’s got well over two-hundred kay!” One cackled gleefully.
“I wouldn’t take any for yourself. That Ka-” At this point, the grunt’s voice became so low that it was difficult to make out a name, though short, “-is an angry individual, a lot like Miss Nersu. Ha, like Admin, like Junior Admin, I guess,” the other whispered. Crystal paused, trying to lock what she had heard of that name into memory. Ka-something. Of course, her mind was racing with far too many questions, and thus it was forgotten.
“Hey, I wouldn’t be bad mouthing her, you know. Granted, I don’t think anyone would want to be on the other side of her furious wrath.”
“I don’t even know why I’m here. I’m under Yoramatu’s orders, not Nersu’s, though he deployed us here on this mission to catch these trainers. What’s so special about them anyway?”
“Oooh! I think I found out why one is…” the one rummaging through Kiyo’s bag sung as he pulled out something small and shiny. Crystal couldn’t make it out, though by judging the look on her fellow trainer’s face, she did not like the fact that it was pulled out. It was black- that’s all the little trainer could make out. “Damn, though, gotta wonder where she got her hands on this thing. Has to be pretty tough to get it. I think I’ll…” His voice trailed off as there was a sudden angry roar in the water. “What in Giovanni’s good name…?!”
Fear was suddenly struck into their eyes as a large Gyarados rose up from the murky waters below the bridge, eyes constricted in an emotion that was absolute pure rage. The angered serpent thrashed around, and with his mighty body, knocked several Grunts into the water on the opposite side of the bridge. There were several cries, and the rest of the team dropped what they were doing and rushed forward when a slightly smaller Gyarados reared up and attacked, making the situation dire.
After all of the grunts left their area, the still young trainer sprung up, eyeing the events on the bridge carefully before she dashed over to her friends, staying low to the ground.
“What’s going on?” Kiyo muttered, very slowly pushing herself up.
“There’s two Gyarados attacking the bridge. I don’t know how, but that Junior Admin must’ve gotten them all riled up or something. Quick, we need to go!”
“What, in all the legendaries’ good names, is going on?!” Kara screeched, grabbing her bag and slinging it on with haste.
“Talk later! We need to get to the Pokemon Center a-sap!” Crystal wasted no time latching on her belt and bag. Something…doesn’t feel quite right… Hair catching in the sea air, the gifted one turned to Kiyo, who was still struggling to get up. “Kiyo?!” The eldest swore lightly, grabbing at her ankle.
“Gah…I think this leg got paralyzed and I twisted my ankle. Oh, this is bad. So stupid to dash out like that…”
“Kara! Grab her stuff…” the youngest rummaged around the area wildly, coming across their Pokeballs. She wasted no time finding her own, and muttered something to the others in the weird tongue.
“Arcanum, please… we need to get out of here. Kiyo’s hurt. Please, we need you to come out.” And, with that, a Pokeball with dash lines through a flame burst open. The majestic Pokemon stood tall, and immediately bounded to her trainer’s side.
“How’s…Umbree doing?” the wounded trainer queried, and aquamarine eyes widened up. She rushed over to the oldest looking Pokeball, one with a ring engraved upon it, and tried to call him out, to no avail. Taking that as ‘he’s not in the ball’, she quickly shot a look back to the bridge. The Gyarados pair was tiring out from so many attacks. They were running short on time.
“Come on, Umbree, where are you…?” she called out, yet knew that she couldn’t delay; whe brought them their Pokeballs, glancing back.
“Crystal…where’s Umbree…?” the fire trainer’s voice deepened in worry.
“I don’t know! Umbree!” Crystal cried out.
“Ugh…I’m over here,” a voice not quite Umbree’s caught her attention, and she pinpointed it to a wooded area. Gulping and questioning this turn of events, she dashed off to the forest, where she found the Pokemon, barely conscious. “How’s…Kiyo doing?”
“She’s fine. You should be worried about yourself…” She muttered, and glanced back. The large canine was now waiting for her. “Okay, I’m going to have to put you on my shoulders. Hold on as tight as you can…” The girl prepared herself, and lifted his heavy sixty pound weight-load onto her tiny shoulders. She staggered a bit, yet she was too determined to drop him. Adrenaline coursing through her veins and sweat leaking to her hair and dampening it, she made it to the edge of the woods. The legendary Pokemon gracefully dashed over, kneeling down so that Kiyo and Kara could easily drag the Pokemon on and relieve her of the weight of the dark type. Crystal then wearily took the front seat of the Pokemon.
“Where are we off to?” Arcanum questioned, grunting as she rose to her paws.
“The Pokemon Center. Hurry!” she urged, and held on, just as she heard voices drawing near. Evidently the Gyarados had grown too weak, and finally retreated back to the seas. It was a good thing that Apollo’s righteous wrath had been on their side that day, and not on Team Missile’s.
Blame the K names on Kiyo. Let's start naming her characters, shall we? Kiyo, Kaien, Kouta...XD Kara is short for 'Catherine'. Originally it was for a member of my native board, Sakura, but I didn't like the generic name, so I changed it to something similar.
I luv Jormy, but he's hard as a rock to write. :/ And yeah, lawls. They do that randomly.
orly? y u leiks her lol?
HAHAHA. No, most of James' Pokemon (at least with Victreebel, I recall) wanted to eat him. o.o But yeah, Skar = love. <3 He was the runt when Kiyo found him. Poor thing...
Yeah, yeah, just been busy with my shiny new Mew DS and Diamond, hahaha...MY B. >>' I have up to chapter 25 editeded...just mad lazy, of course.
I suppose I should post something and continue posting till chapter ~18Chapter 13- Apollo's Wrath
“Not a lot on this route, eh?” Kara ended a long silence as they continued along the somewhat direct Route 49. Now with heavy bags for the roads ahead and knowing that a safe place to rest would not be in sight until they reached the other side of Apollo Bridge and turned to head up Route 50, the other two seemed a little more weary, and weren’t up for talking. Starly buzzed merrily in their flock within the great blue abyss lined with stratus clouds, headed for their homes in the fewer trees that lined the dirt road before them. Normal grass and earth mixed with dune grass and sand, and the sound of the ocean was the only lonely response to most anything the medic began with.
“Not really, besides the few odd Starly and Ratatta around,” Crystal murmured, pacific blue eyes darting at the sound of Pokemon in the woods, giving suspicious glares to the wandering company.
“Hmm, yeah…” Unnerved by the silence still, the two girl’s new teammate tried desperately to make small talk. “So, Kiyo, you lived in Johto at one point?”
“Mmm? Oh, yeah. I did,” she nodded, appearing a little annoyed.
“What was it like in that region?”
“Just like any other region- eight gym leaders to beat, Pokemon to catch exclusive to that region, trainers to battle. When you think about it, it’s not all that different from Beghta, really,” the eldest contemplated.
“Huh. Is that were you got your metal bird?”
“His name is Skarmory, and yeah.”
“How many other rare Pokemon were in the region?”
“Too many to count.”
“Did you win any badges?”
“That’s a dumb question, don’t you think?” Kiyo responded coldly, but Kara recovered quickly.
“Ha, of course. How silly of me. You do have an amazing strong look in your eyes, like your Pokemon.” If the girl was waiting for some sort of response, though, the fire trainer would not give her that satisfaction. Yet another silence overcame the group, and Kara sighed.
“Is it going to be this silent the entire journey?”
“Silent?” Crystal questioned, and before saying something stupid to incriminate her secret, Kiyo spoke.
“It is a little too quiet. I thought we would’ve seen some trainers before nearing Apollo Bridge, and night is falling fast.” Her eyes blinked at the sun, which was finally clambering down from its large throne in the sky to let the moon have its night.
“Huh?”
“Yeah, come to think of it, last time I came through Route 49 this area was chock full with trainers. I wonder what happened…” Kara muttered.
“Team Missile,” murmured Crystal. Neither one said anything after that, but Kiyo did nod her head ever so slightly at the girl. The thought of the bridge inching closer with every step they took sent frowns around the merry group. At last, the uneasiness was ended when a normal trainer jogged up to them, and rather young at his appearance. A pair of baggy shorts were the most prominent feature of the child, one Crystal knew well enough; it was the style of most elementary kids to dress like the elders and look ‘cool’ with baggy shorts, baseball caps on sideways and a hot attitude to match.
“Hey, are you trainers?!” he exclaimed wildly.
“Yes?” Kiyo answered incredulously.
“Then one of you will fight!” The kid withdrew two Pokeballs from his shorts’ pockets, shouting orders. “Who’ll it be?!”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Crystal snorted.
“I’ll take on the boy,” the new member of their party grinned, withdrawing her own Pokeball, but a hand stopped her.
“No. Crystal should get some experience before the next gym battle, and not from wild Pokemon or Missile Peons. Last time she got rather lucky in her first real Gym battle. I’m surprised she won…” the mentor nodded to the younger, who appeared both flattered and miffed at the same moment.
“I haven’t battled in a long time, though.”
“Crystal hasn’t battled against a normal trainer, period.” That seemed to settle that matter. Sighing, the pink-banged girl took up the plate, unlatching the first Pokeball from her belt.
“It’ll be a double battle, got it?” The youngster demanded, and Crystal faltered. She had never heard of a double battle before.
“What’s a double-” she started, but was cut off at the materialization of a Starly and a Zigzagoon, whom waited side by side each other, gazing at the trainer. “Er, ok…Sergeant Pup, and Flare, too, I guess you’re duking it out together!” She unclipped another Pokeball from her waist, and held them out. The youth scoffed at her rather bizarre way to call out her Pokemon, but come out they did. Staring at the two opponents, the Torchic and Poochyena gazed at each other, and then their trainer.
“Why are we both out, now?” the Serge questioned.
“I guess he wanted a double battle…? I have no idea what’s going on.” The fledging trainer whispered.
“Crystal, don’t even tell me…” Kiyo groaned. “Oh, Kara, I think this is going to get ugly really fast.”
“Why?”
“Mewster, you complete newb! How can you not know what a double battle is?!”
“Blame my mother!”
“Ha, looks like I’ll have the upper hand here!” the opposing trainer smirked. “You should be ashamed as a trainer, to not know what double battling is! I guess you’ll have to learn soon enough…Zip! Robin! Nail that Poochyena with a Tackle and that Torchic with a Peck!”
“Ahh, um, Sergeant Pup, take on that Zigzagoon with your own Tackle, and Flare, uhm, you Peck back!” Or something, the trainer sweated. She hadn’t even had the chance to check out Flare or the Serge’s movesets, and so she was, quite frankly, winging it. At this point, Kiyo muttered something about incompetence, and called out to Crystal, though it was barely enough for her to make out.
“You don’t even know those two’s movesets, do you?!”
“I’m working on finding it out!” Crystal wiped a bit of her perspiration away, watching as the Pokemon jumped into action. The tiny raccoon darted this way and that, finally making a leap and crashing into the dark dog. However, Serge. Pup seemed infuriated by the move and taking damage, for as soon as his paws hit the ground, he took off like wild fire, ramming the Pokemon back, and in a rather susceptible spot that made the Pokemon growl in pain. Meanwhile, Flare managed to take the peck well, though instead of jabbing back, she took mild flight on her tiny wings and raked at the Starly with her clawed feet. Both Pokemon gazed back at their trainers, and Crystal nodded for them to come into close hearing range, in which they quickly obeyed.
“Tackle, my honor! Is that all you got, Hikara?” growled the dog.
“I’m sorry, but I really didn’t even get a chance to ask what each of your moves are!” she hissed back.
“Can’t your Pokegear tell you that?” Flare chirped.
“No, it’s broken. I can barely get your levels to load, and how much health you have left.”
“I know Tackle and Howl. That’s all. Do you require any further knowledge of the sort?”
“Nope. What was that going on back there, though, Flare?”
“Scratch. I don’t learn Peck until I’ve fought several more battles, I believe. I do know Growl and Flamethrower, though I don’t suggest the latter except on especially hard opponents. This guy doesn’t seem to wise in his rash orders, however.”
“Ok, this is good to know.”
“Are you gonna comfort your poor Pokemon that just received petty damage or are you going to fight?!” the youngster roared.
“Kay guys. Serge, you power up with your Howl before you get in there and tackle the Zigzagoon. Flare, I need you to lower their attack levels with a Growl so that we won’t receive that much more damage, and then get back in there with Scratch, except aim for the Zigzagoon. Something tells me that it’ll go better if we can knock out one opponent and then take on the Starly separately,” Crystal whispered, and the two Pokemon leapt into action hastily.
“Zip! Tackle it again! Robin! Peck that Poochyena!” the challenger cried, and the Pokemon began to gain up on the pup. However, the newborn Torchic hopped upon the Bite Pokemon’s head, then began with her chipper song. The opponent’s Pokemon paused for a moment, before both seemed to nearly die of laughter. Well, there’s a sight! Singing as a defense for Sergeant Pup. It worked to some degree; they were so busy laughing at the cute song that their attacks lacked in the offensive department. Serge. Pup growled at the assaults that they had landed on him, but did jump back and recover himself well. The growl gradually became louder, and as he threw his head proudly into the sky, it grew in pitch, sounding eerie, but unlike last time, it did not unnerve Crystal. A blissful sort of power gleamed in his eyes, as he didn’t await for orders to jump on in there and give it his all on the tiny raccoon Pokemon, which staggered back in surprise. The Torchic then gracefully darted forward, sinking claws into fur and flesh, yet she made such carnage look…beautiful. They both did. Maybe that’s what makes the life of a trainer so harsh, to understand the beauty of this violence, and yet even with this fighting and scratching, I think I know why trainers want to go through with it all... Caught back in the midst of the battle, the youngster cried in protest of the events at hand.
“You’re cheating!” he whined, sobbing over his badly ruffled striped companion. “Zip, are you alright? Counter them with the same moves, you two! Take out that Poochyena!” The two rushed forward, though the small land creature seemed quite a bit haggard.
“I am not cheating! Agh! Well, Serge, I think that Zigzagoon is on his last legs. Go and take him down! Flare, I need you to decrease that Starly’s attack again with another Growl. After that, we’ll figure out where to go.”
“Ten-four, Hikara!” the dark dog grinned, and met the Zigzagoon in a head on collision. The pup slid back and quickly flipped onto his paws after the encounter, though the raccoon had to struggle substantially to raise up a paw, before it collapsed out of exhaustion. It did not appear as though it was getting back on its feet any time soon.
“Gah! No! Zip, return…” the youngster heaved, as the Pokemon disappeared. “Robin! Don’t give up on that Poochyena! I’m sure we have it on the ropes now!”
“What? The battle doesn’t become just one on one now?” Crystal rose an eyebrow.
“No. It may seem unfair, but the person whom loses their Pokemon to fainting has to fight with just one Pokemon unless they have others to replace the fallen teammate,” Kiyo murmured, barely audible for the girl to hear.
“It’s so cruel, though…” the youngest of the trio muttered, before returning to battle, watching as Sergeant Pup slurred out demeaning things at the attacking bird. He appeared weary. “Well, hopefully, two against one will allow them to do better…Sergeant Pup, Flare, combine your attacks on that Starly!” They nodded, and Flare carefully clambered up onto her teammate’s back. The youngster had to wonder what they were doing.
“Don’t let the two of them intimidate you, Robin! Peck back with all of your might and knock that dog off his feet!” the boy snarled, angered even more now that he was losing the match. However, as the bird swooped down from ahead, Flare made a high jump off of Sergeant’s back, taking the full force of the Peck for herself, though she swung her feet around to cut off a few feather bits. Squawking like mad, the bird flew closer to the ground, and after the fire chick had cleared the area, the serge dashed forward, causing the bird to fly no longer; the black and white starling slid to a stop at its owner’s feet, fast unconscious. The trainer gazed up in horror and aggravation at these events, and recalled the bird. “Dang it! There are too many strong trainers around here!” he screamed, and took off, but not before he threw a few crumbled up bills at the ground towards Crystal. As she walked over to her Pokemon’s side, she was delighted to see that it was money. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
“Do trainers always leave money after they battle, Kiyo?”
“Yeah, that’s typically the prize besides the normal experience your Pokemon earn from battling and winning.”
“Cool...” The student soon bent down towards her teammates, taking up some light conversation.
“Huh, so that was just some third-rate kid, then,” Kara sighed. “Maybe it was a good idea to have Crystal beat him, after all. I wouldn’t have won much of anything except a waste of time…”
“I calls em like I sees them,” Kiyo smirked. “You ready to head on out, my student?”
“Yeah, sure…let me just tend to Pup’s wounds first,” she replied, hastily yanking out a potion from her bag.
“Bah! I need no Potion. I’m absolutely in peak form,” A gray paw batted the bottle away as it came close.
“I bet your HP would disagree with you there,” Flare sung, and she received a dirty look from the pooch, though his wounds soon spoke for him. Gnawing on some dead hangclaw, he awaited for the potion to work its magic. He tilted his head from side to side for a moment, before he rose to all four paws, somewhat stiff in his movements.
“Targets have been annihilated. Mission successful,” he proudly barked.
“Uhh…that’s a ten-four, Serge? It was really just knocking them out. How are you holding out, Flare?”
“I’ll be fine. A few pecks is nothing ever to be concerned about.” She seemed to have shrunk into her thick fluffy down, preening occasionally here and there, though all together looking calm. Slowly with a kind look, she pecked lightly on her Pokeball, disappearing inside. Crystal gave a glance to the pup.
“What…? I’ll be staying out on duty for a nightly patrol, if that’s fine with you, Hikara.”
“As soon as you get noticeably tired, I’m recalling you,” she whispered, throwing a crystal eye back to Kara, trying to keep her voice down so she wouldn’t hear the bizarre speech flying from her mouth.
“Affirmative,” was his mere response, and the young trainer got to her feet, turning around.
“Ok. All set.”
“Excellent. To the base of Apollo Bridge it is,” Kiyo nodded, leading the group on west. The path once more became serene, and simple chitter-chatter didn’t seem up for grabs. Slowly, the road dimmed, their shadows elongated, and the longest bridge of the Beghta region came into sight about half a mile away. As the orange light flickered on the murky ocean water below said bridge, their senses were hit with a heavy, cool breeze, scented with pungent salt.
“Wow! It’s huge!” Crystal exclaimed. She had heard often of this fabled path across the water, but it was definitely a sight to behold with her own eyes.
“Yeah. Let’s set up camp here. I think that if we went any closer, Team Missile would be rather pleased with our appearance in the dark.” Kiyo had already called out Blaze, and he paused for a moment while there was a scurry to grab wood. His indigo gaze fell upon Kara somewhat intimidatingly. That just has to prove it…
The youngest of the group immediately knew for sure that Flare was the child of Charmeleon’s and Kara’s Combusken’s secret meetings with one another with a snicker. Kara gave a rather peculiar eye towards the girl, but didn’t bother to question it. As soon as they had enough wood, they started a small fire with the end of the lizard’s tail, embers causing the wood to lose moisture and catch flame. Without saying much and letting their Pokemon out around them to make watchful guards, the group laid out their bags and things and called it a night. Crystal didn’t sleep well again, but Umbree did settle by her once more after Kiyo was softly breathing and well unconscious. Eventually, sleep claimed her as well.
The next morning, they packed up somewhat quietly and efficiently. Crystal slipped a word to Kiyo, wondering if there had been an attack last night and if she had once again slept through it, but she was thankful when the response was ‘no’. Recalling their teams, they were once again on the road, and Apollo Bridge and its shining white building material shone brightly in the morning sun, nearly blinding them. Even with the beautiful spectacle, the gifted one knew that they had to be on their toes at all time if Team Missile did control the area. There seemed to be more trainer activity, Ratatta and Zigzagoon duking it out with one another, or a Koffing sparring with an Ekans. They all seemed enthralled in their battles, and barely batted an eyelash at the group of three as the bridge came ever so closer.
“I don’t like this,” Kiyo growled under her breath. “I would’ve thought to see a ton of trainers in the forest and on Route 49 and officially on Apollo Bridge, not this near to Apollo Bridge.”
“Do you think that they could be trainers from Team Missile?” Crystal glanced at trainers out of the corners of her eyes.
“They’re a bit young to be in Team Missile…mainly youngsters and the like. I don’t think Team Missile would try such a thing with little tykes,” Kara noticed.
“Unless they’re grown adults and merely midgets.”
“Kiyo! How could you say something-”
“Hey, trying to keep high spirits here,” she shrugged non-apologetically, before she returned to her grim state, noticing a few black-outfitted people run off into the woods ahead of them. “Oh, no. That’s no good…can’t have secret Missiles running around, can we?”
“Huh?”
“Some Peons just ran to the woods. They probably block the path for most trainers, but if they noticed that it was us, then they probably want us to continue on through the bridge and trap us there.”
“Huh?! Then what are we going to do?” Kara exclaimed wildly at the eldest’s speculation.
“Not much we can do…There’s no other path that we can access that leads to the area across the way. We have to cross the bridge.”
“Walk right into a trap? Oh, real nice, Kiyo.”
“Heh, well, I do have a rather large strong team. I’m sure we’ll be able to withstand them for long enough to cross the bridge in time,” she stuck her thumb up to the sky. “They’re pretty weak, really. I’m sure your training from the whole prepare-for-Ridgebrook dealie would be sufficient enough to protect you from at least the creeps around these parts. And I’m sure that a Scyther and a Combusken can hold their own in battle,” the teen snickered, and the girls had no other choice other than to concur and continue on.
The long bridge stood intimidatingly before them, stretching on for a straight few miles over a large sea bay. The pedestrian sidewalk was wide and well traveled, though the occasional bicycle did zoom down the large space in the middle. They passed through the empty gateway and out onto the bright pathway, eyeing everything that they could possibly see. Team Missile couldn’t hide anywhere, but the vast emptiness make them uneasy. The group of three were walking at a normal pace, but the feeling of being watched was more than they could take, and soon all of them broke out into a flat sprint. Kiyo was sure to pace herself so that the other two could keep up, and there was a small explosion. The bridge collapsed right behind them.
“What?!”
“Oh, by the legendaries…!”
“Don’t look back! Keep running!”
Given Kiyo’s heartless command and with bits of the bridge crumbling beneath where their feet were a few seconds before, all three were given an adrenaline rush and raced headlong towards the middle of the bridge. However, from above came a Missile, landing in front of their path. The fire trainer wasted no time whipping out Umbree. Trainer and Pokemon snarled in their own ways at the adversary.
“Get out of our path, less you feel the burn of defeat.” Her eyes narrowed, and the Umbreon’s rings flashed menacingly. The higher up Missile did nothing. He made no motion to withdraw one of three Missile Balls strapped on his belt. Crystal was quick to note the outfit he wore, associating it with Chris Johnson, the Missile Junior Admin. She was cowering behind Kiyo within seconds.
“…I have no intention of battling nor capturing you,” the young man clothed in the evil garb spoke, his quiet low voice drawing them in. The fire trainer gave a suspicious glare to the boy that couldn’t have been four years older than the blonde, and Umbree didn’t back down.
“You think you can fool us with that line? Think again,” she spat.
“…well then, what do I have to do to prove that I speak the truth? Buy you chocolates? Throw my arms up in the air and keep my hands where you can see them?” At which point, to put emphasis on his words, he did. “Now’s not the time for this, so listen carefully and keep it down if you want to make it out of here safely. Otherwise, a wall of Grunts awaits you ahead.” The trainers looked at one another. Surely this isn’t typical Missile behavior... The mentor, however, still appeared skeptical, and Umbree didn’t loosen in his tense pose.
“Why would you want to help us?” she questioned in a deadly low voice.
“Let’s just say that the special gifts in this world should be left free and out of the hands of evil,” he smiled, especially towards Crystal’s way. The girl and Dustren seemed taken aback by this, but Kara merely appeared confused beyond belief.
“What do you…never mind. Say what you want to, and quick,” the odd-eyed trainer rose an eyebrow.
“I have a Magneton. It will use a Thunder Wave on you.”
“What-”
“Do you want to make it out safely? Then at least let me finish my sentence.” Kiyo growled at that, but said nothing more. “I was about to say I’ll use Thunder Wave on an area near you, so it looks as though you and your Pokemon are paralyzed. In actuality, you’ll be fine, as long as you can fake collapsing to the ground realistically.” Slowly, he unlatched a Missile Ball from his belt. “After that, they will drag you to the end of the bridge, and the pathetic fools will be too busy sadistically savoring their victory. I will then provide some sort of distraction near the other side of the bridge, allowing you a window of time to escape. Take refuge at the Pokemon Center at the corner of the three routes until the next morning. It should be safe there.” He paused, before tossing forth his Missile Ball. In a gray flash, a Magneton materialized, floating in midair, various mechanical things screwing and unscrewing and magnets changing in their direction. It appeared very well cared after, unlike what other Missiles did with their Pokemon. “I wish for you to get out of this circumstance as easily as possible. If you decide against it, I have no choice otherwise but to use force and really take you in.” His voice suddenly rose. “Discharge, Tackle the Umbreon.”
“What? I thought you were going to-” the female of seventeen began angrily.
“I have to make it look like there’s an opening to use the attack. I can’t be making you look too pathetic…they may be sadistic, but they aren’t stupid little grunts.” he muttered, and watched as the dark type dashed to the side of the Tackle. His rings glowed, and he leapt backward, feigning being hurt. Confused, Discharge floated forward a little bit, ready for action, only to be lead into a head on collision with a Faint Attack. The magnet Pokemon didn’t falter back, though, and awaited his trainer’s orders.
“I don’t like this guy…” muttered Umbree, looking back to his trainer for a brief moment.
“This Missile…there’s some sort of suspicious air around him,” Kiyo muttered beneath her breath, barely audible for Crystal to catch. “Umbree, keep up with the Faint Attacks. You can outlast him…”
“Discharge, use a few Shock Waves to knock the Umbreon off balance. After that, let’s use your support move of Thunder Wave…” his voice suddenly dropped. “But purposely miss. Make it look as though it’s going to hit them.”
“Wait, what?!” More of the gold and silver shrunk back at the very order.
“What did he just say?!” Kara, likewise, interrogated with wide eyes.
“Yes, master.” The Pokemon spoke in a metallic, monotonous voice, and suddenly shot off sparks in all directions. The negative sparks became densely packed against the positively charged magnet, and they discharged rapidly, much like his nickname. The lightning arched along the ground with incredible speed, and as such Umbree could not evade it. He gave a small cry of pain, current surging through his blood, and he was knocked back; the moonlight Pokemon’s back paws slowed him down to a stop. He carefully rose to his feet, though he didn’t look that injured. Even with his Faint Attacks in hand, it was clear to see that the Umbreon didn’t have the advantage in battle. It soon became a battle of stunning accuracy, deceit and currents running through the air wildly. At one point, though, Umbree was keen to get up slowly.
“Umbree…!” Kiyo called out.
“Breee,” he growled, spitting at the ground a little as a hint.
“Now, Discharge,” the junior admin demanded, and Discharge began to set out pulses of energy out toward them. Kiyo made a rather valiant attempt to gather the tired Umbree in her arms, but in doing so she was plagued by the wave, and collapsed. Kiyo…?! Is she seriously paralyzed, or am I seeing things?! The Magneton, after it was done with those two, turned to the medic and gifted one, sending out the pulses again. Trying their best to make it look authentic, the girls locked their legs, and fell on their sides, wincing at how rough the fall was. They daren’t move, though, as Missile Grunts flooded in, taking their items and the like. The Junior Admin cleared a path, with various Grunts laughing and congratulating him on his stunning victory. His red eyes somewhat apologetically spoke to Crystal, as he swung her up onto his shoulder. She panicked, but had no choice to remain limp and appear helpless. The man spoke, making sure that the girl was tightly secured on his shoulder.
“Good job, men. Bring them, their Pokemon, and their items to the western edge of the bridge. I’ll have Ms. Nersu send for a vehicle to take them to the Zenith stronghold.” There were several cheers, and Crystal’s heart was pounding. We’re at the mercy of this man! What’s to say he isn’t going to go back against his word? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. That made the blonde sick to her stomach. She eyed her friends, whom were being hauled off like herself, appearing near unconscious. Umbree, however, was still struggling. It took a handful of Grunts and a few Pokemon to finally do him in. Kiyo winced and cried out slightly as the now sleeping eeveelution was dragged off.
Finally, they were thrown without much regard for their health against a cliff, which only helped to make themselves look even more helpless. Crystal landed gruffly a little ways away from her friends, and this Missile gazed at her, speaking. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep my word to you and your friends.”
“Why are you doing this?” she muttered with only a little movement from her head, still feigning paralysis. He sighed, before he ran a finger through her bangs, making her involuntarily twitch.
“You and I…you might know it, but we have more in common than you think. I must be off to create the distraction. …here’s to wishing we don’t have to meet again soon like this…” And, with that, he removed her bag, setting it among the rest of the groups things. Various grunts sorted and pillaged the contents.
“Man, these folks are rich! Look at miss fire trainer lady here. She’s got well over two-hundred kay!” One cackled gleefully.
“I wouldn’t take any for yourself. That Ka-” At this point, the grunt’s voice became so low that it was difficult to make out a name, though short, “-is an angry individual, a lot like Miss Nersu. Ha, like Admin, like Junior Admin, I guess,” the other whispered. Crystal paused, trying to lock what she had heard of that name into memory. Ka-something. Of course, her mind was racing with far too many questions, and thus it was forgotten.
“Hey, I wouldn’t be bad mouthing her, you know. Granted, I don’t think anyone would want to be on the other side of her furious wrath.”
“I don’t even know why I’m here. I’m under Yoramatu’s orders, not Nersu’s, though he deployed us here on this mission to catch these trainers. What’s so special about them anyway?”
“Oooh! I think I found out why one is…” the one rummaging through Kiyo’s bag sung as he pulled out something small and shiny. Crystal couldn’t make it out, though by judging the look on her fellow trainer’s face, she did not like the fact that it was pulled out. It was black- that’s all the little trainer could make out. “Damn, though, gotta wonder where she got her hands on this thing. Has to be pretty tough to get it. I think I’ll…” His voice trailed off as there was a sudden angry roar in the water. “What in Giovanni’s good name…?!”
Fear was suddenly struck into their eyes as a large Gyarados rose up from the murky waters below the bridge, eyes constricted in an emotion that was absolute pure rage. The angered serpent thrashed around, and with his mighty body, knocked several Grunts into the water on the opposite side of the bridge. There were several cries, and the rest of the team dropped what they were doing and rushed forward when a slightly smaller Gyarados reared up and attacked, making the situation dire.
After all of the grunts left their area, the still young trainer sprung up, eyeing the events on the bridge carefully before she dashed over to her friends, staying low to the ground.
“What’s going on?” Kiyo muttered, very slowly pushing herself up.
“There’s two Gyarados attacking the bridge. I don’t know how, but that Junior Admin must’ve gotten them all riled up or something. Quick, we need to go!”
“What, in all the legendaries’ good names, is going on?!” Kara screeched, grabbing her bag and slinging it on with haste.
“Talk later! We need to get to the Pokemon Center a-sap!” Crystal wasted no time latching on her belt and bag. Something…doesn’t feel quite right… Hair catching in the sea air, the gifted one turned to Kiyo, who was still struggling to get up. “Kiyo?!” The eldest swore lightly, grabbing at her ankle.
“Gah…I think this leg got paralyzed and I twisted my ankle. Oh, this is bad. So stupid to dash out like that…”
“Kara! Grab her stuff…” the youngest rummaged around the area wildly, coming across their Pokeballs. She wasted no time finding her own, and muttered something to the others in the weird tongue.
“Arcanum, please… we need to get out of here. Kiyo’s hurt. Please, we need you to come out.” And, with that, a Pokeball with dash lines through a flame burst open. The majestic Pokemon stood tall, and immediately bounded to her trainer’s side.
“How’s…Umbree doing?” the wounded trainer queried, and aquamarine eyes widened up. She rushed over to the oldest looking Pokeball, one with a ring engraved upon it, and tried to call him out, to no avail. Taking that as ‘he’s not in the ball’, she quickly shot a look back to the bridge. The Gyarados pair was tiring out from so many attacks. They were running short on time.
“Come on, Umbree, where are you…?” she called out, yet knew that she couldn’t delay; whe brought them their Pokeballs, glancing back.
“Crystal…where’s Umbree…?” the fire trainer’s voice deepened in worry.
“I don’t know! Umbree!” Crystal cried out.
“Ugh…I’m over here,” a voice not quite Umbree’s caught her attention, and she pinpointed it to a wooded area. Gulping and questioning this turn of events, she dashed off to the forest, where she found the Pokemon, barely conscious. “How’s…Kiyo doing?”
“She’s fine. You should be worried about yourself…” She muttered, and glanced back. The large canine was now waiting for her. “Okay, I’m going to have to put you on my shoulders. Hold on as tight as you can…” The girl prepared herself, and lifted his heavy sixty pound weight-load onto her tiny shoulders. She staggered a bit, yet she was too determined to drop him. Adrenaline coursing through her veins and sweat leaking to her hair and dampening it, she made it to the edge of the woods. The legendary Pokemon gracefully dashed over, kneeling down so that Kiyo and Kara could easily drag the Pokemon on and relieve her of the weight of the dark type. Crystal then wearily took the front seat of the Pokemon.
“Where are we off to?” Arcanum questioned, grunting as she rose to her paws.
“The Pokemon Center. Hurry!” she urged, and held on, just as she heard voices drawing near. Evidently the Gyarados had grown too weak, and finally retreated back to the seas. It was a good thing that Apollo’s righteous wrath had been on their side that day, and not on Team Missile’s.
Great chapter as always! A lot of interesting things going on....
How can you not like Chimmy? Almost everybody loves Chimchar!
What don't you like about Chimchar?
How can you not like Chimmy? Almost everybody loves Chimchar!
What don't you like about Chimchar?
He's a female dog and a half to sew. D: That and he's ugly. Torchic is so much better. And yeah, thngs start sort of picking up a little...not crazy like, but a little.
Ick, I still have to really edit this chapter. Don't like the part where Nail painstakingly explains stuff. Aw well. I still love my drummer.
Chapter 14- Three Meas'ly Little Battles?!
“How is Kiyo and Umbree going to be, doctor?” Crystal hastily jumped to her feet, as a female doctor in classy specs walked out of the ER area.
“Umbree is going to be fine. However, I’m one for Pokemon diseases and injuries. I did all I could with my human biology knowledge…let’s hope that’s enough. You may visit her if you like.” She gave a half-hearted smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have insurance papers I have to file and I have to make sure my colleague doesn’t torch any innocent person walking past the center…” With that, Crystal and Kara were left to barge into the recovery room, where Kiyo was sitting rather uncomfortably in a bed with several tight bandages wrapped around her ankle. Umbree was right next to her, and she was stroking his head affectionately, when she noticed the pair walk in.
“Oh, you look a mess…” the brunette muttered. “If only I knew a little more about human medicine…”
“Nah, it wasn’t your fault this happened,” the sable-haired trainer breathed out, relaxing against the pillow. “Granted that Cheri juice was nasty, it does work wonders…I can feel my foot now. Gah, but it hurts like a-”
“Right, I’m sure it does,” Crystal cut her off, settling down in one of the visitation chairs. She glanced to Umbree, then to Kara.
“Ah, that’s right. That reminds me. What exactly happened? I want the full truth, nothing but the truth, so help you guys…” the teen’s emerald eyes narrowed. At this, Crystal heaved a huge sigh.
“Kara, I know that, uh, this news is going to be rather difficult to receive and all…”
“What? Nothing could shake me and my beliefs. Enough. Spill.”
“Kara, the something concerning Crystal…it’s something that could determine the freedom of the world or not…” Silver and gold eyes narrowed.
“Do you have to put it that dramatically?” the gifted girl allowed her eyes to briefly glare at the ceiling.
“That’s the sugar-coated version, kid…”
“Huh? Well, do tell me, then. If it’s this important…”
“We were just trying to protect you from this knowledge as long as possible. I hope you can handle the risks. You’ll be targeted by Team Missile, now that I’m saying this…” Crystal sighed, and took a deeper breath. With a knowing glance to Kiyo, her gaze finally fell on the new travelling companion.
“I…was given the ability to speak to and understand Pokemon.”
There was a long silence, before Kara chuckled.
“Ha, haha. Cute. I don’t like it when you’re lying. Now, come on. Seriously.”
“I am being dead serious.”
Another long pause. The teen appeared dumbfounded. It was then up to Kiyo and Crystal together to explain to her all of the events that had happened in that last month and three-quarters or so, ranging from the very exciting start of her journey, Team Missile’s kidnapping her, Kiyo busting her out, how she gained the ability in the first place, starting over anew, and every event up until when they met the bewildered trainer. The situation took well over an hour to explain, and by the end of it, Kara still hadn’t said a word. Umbree had settled himself on Crystal’s lap, after Kiyo’s wrists grew tired and could not pet him any longer.
“Kara…?” the youngest questioned. Even the dark type gazed up from underneath her hand.
“T-this…” she stuttered. “I need proof! There’s just no way it’s…” she threw open her Pokeball containing Combusken frustratedly. “Just no way it’s possible. Combusken, I need you to sing your favorite song. If you can tell what a Pokemon is saying, then tell me what the lyrics are!” Both of the trainers sighed. This…is not going to be easy.
“Ugh, I hate it when people ask me to do this to prove my truth…” the pink banged trainer muttered, and turned to the Combusken. “…Well, go on,” she urged with a whisper, switching languages. The young fowl was rather hesitant at first, though finally she started to click her tongue, and whistle out the song. It was harsher than Flare’s song, though the lyrics were very powerful. She repeated after the bird, singing along in English. The medic could not believe her eyes and ears at this amazing spectacle. Shortly after she ended the song, the fire-fighting type was recalled in a feat of astonishment.
“I…I…um…” the trainer staggered with her words.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you…oh my god…wow. I just…can’t believe that. There’s no way you would’ve known that song and that it’s just our song, too…” A somber reality seemed to come over her face. “So, you really are in danger, and they are trying to catch you for this?”
“Yeah…well, I think I’ll be fine for a while, as long as Kiyo’s by my side, the strong rascal she is,” Mewster joked and poked Kiyo, who grunted unaffectionately. “Besides, as long as I can help her to get this special Hiune, we’re all set.”
“A special Hiune…?”
“It’s white,” Kiyo simply croaked.
“Aren’t they normally reddish?
“Yeah.”
“Why a white one, then?”
“I have my reasons.” the experienced trainer mumbled.
“Oh, shoot! We forgot to ask about that Vulpix we heard about in the forest…” the youngest sprung to her feet, just as a man in his very early thirties with a slightly unshaven face and a Magby sitting upon his huge shoulders barged in. A thread of straw hung in his mouth, and he grinned, baring discolored teeth belonging to a smoker.
“Ah, der little tyke’s doin’ all righ’ then,” he spoke with a heavy accent.
“Ha, I wouldn’t be talking with that Magby on your shoulders, guy,” Kiyo threw a comment back. A smirk grew upon her once dismal face.
“Kiya Dustren…good to see yeh back in town finally,” he chuckled, and entered the room. Crystal stared for a moment.
“You know this man?”
“Yeah, friend of the family.”
“Frien’ of der fam’ly? FRIEN’ OF DER FAM’LY? Aw, Kiya, yeh always were der tough gal that yer brothas turned yeh into,” the man gave her a noogie, and she made no reaction to it.
“I take it you two are close, then…” Kara took a moment to stare at the little fire spit Pokemon. It wobbled back and forth occasionally on the large man’s shoulders to keep its balance, though his face remained stoic.
“Hah! I practic’lly raised der little tyke since she was barely old enough to get her Eevee before her mom ditched the family. Her pap was ne’er there either. Shame, really. Had to help ‘em out somehow, eh? Couldn’t just let ol’ Kaien an’ Kouta raise yeh. It’s a good thing that I an’ der lil’ F-”
“Please don’t speak of that,” Kiyo suddenly cut him off.
“Ah, I see yer still sore about that. Can’t blame yeh,” the man sighed, brown eyes still glittering, before turning his massive body to her two friends. “Travelin’ with der less priv’ledged youn’uns, are yeah?”
“Yeah. Always a handful, this pair.” The trainer smirked, thumbing both of them, though spending considerable time nudging towards Mewster, who’s face dropped in slight ire. The man chuckled.
“Ha, well, well met, I s’pose. Der name’s Keith Milla, m’ladies, maker of der best demned ribs ye’ll ever taste, though yeh can call meh Nail. I also have two friens’, yeh know, an’ they’s called Torch an’ Portly,” he smacked his stomach lightly, which gently bulged out from his white stained shirt, covered in little burn marks and barbecue stains. The girls couldn’t help but giggle a little bit.
“Kara Hikorume of Zenith, sir, dealing in the medicines career.”
“And I’m Crystal Hikara of Dawndew, a wannabe trainer.”
“An’ it’s with pleasure I meet yeh two.” Nail took a little bow, before turning to Kiyo. “But boy, did those fools ever mess yeh up like this…”
“Ha, it could’ve been tons worse, I s’pose…” The accent from the man seemed to bring forth a little of the fire trainer’s well disguised accent. “For all I know, they coulda thrown me into the water below the bridge, or really paralyze me and my friends, or even worse.”
“Aye, but we have to be thankful for that, yups.” The man paused, feeling a sudden vibration in his pocket. He withdrew a pager, and examined the number. “Well, I guess we’s be expecting comp’ny this early in the ev’ning, eh? I’ll be back, little tykes. Hang in there.” He grinned, and took off, Torch hopping into one of his massive hands.
“…he’s weird.”
“Maybe a little bit. Ha, but, you know, kept me out of trouble when I was younger. Great drummer, too. And man, those ribs he cooks are to die for. Oh no, now I want them. Ehhhhh…” Kiyo whined, cussing at her blasted foot. “If it wasn’t for this stupid foot, I’d bring you guys over to his grill’n’bar and treat you to them…and pig out myself…” A sudden yell came from the entrance of the Center, causing the entire party to jump.
“YEH SCUMBAGS! GIT OUTTA OUR CENTER, CREEPS!” There was much shouting, as well as the smell of sulfur. Peeking out, Kara and Crystal were astonished to see Nail holding out Torch like some sort of flamethrower and commanding the little fire type to burn away at a few Missile Grunts. “THINK YEH CAN PRANCE ON IN AN’ TAKE UVER MAH CENTER, YEH BE CRAZY! BURN FOR ETERNITY IN HE-”
“Keith!” screamed the doctor of the small center.
“There were them Missile scumbags, though, miss! They’s deserve to cook on der grill!” he snarled.
“Still, you’re going to startle our slumbering patients that’ve retired early! Must you yell so loud?”
“How else am I ‘sposed to be intimirdatin’ them off then miss?”
“Fire is good enough to send them running in their rubber boots. What a nasty smell of sulfur…” the doctor mumbled, and she had a Starly clear the putrid air out of the windows with some well aimed Gusts. The man rubbed the bottom of his nose with his thumb lightly, slightly embarrassed at being chewed out. He soon saw the pair at the edge of Kiyo’s sickroom.
“Like that lil’ display there, tykes?”
“…You know what? You’re crazy…” Kara eyed him bizarrely, though the man only boomed as the baby Magmar struggled onto his shoulders again, still with his deadpan expression.
“Crazy? Har! Naws, we just don’t want those maggot-infested, flea-bitten dogs to be crawling around and biting ev’ryone in der butts an’ passin’ on their rabies. Treacherous, no-good excuses for humans,” he spat outside at the place where the two grunts had been standing. “Think they can best meh. Har! Such a laugh there...” Nail moved away from the door, headed off to the staff section, but Crystal felt as though this man could possibly hold some answers. She whispered something remotely to Kara, who returned to the recovery room whilst the younger of the two dashed off to catch up with the man.
“Excuse me, Mr. Miller?”
“Mista Milla? Little tyke, I’s be surpised yer saying such these things. Just Nail, kid.”
“Okay, Nail…” It felt somewhat intimidating to call such a full-grown man by his bizarre nickname so openly. She was always told to treat all elders with the respect that they deserved in that manner. It was thus that her words were a tad bit broken up. “Er, I was just wondering, you know, if you had, er, heard of a baby Vulpix near the Bridge.”
“Eh? A Hiun’, you say?” She nodded briefly. “Ah, I think I haven’t. Sorry, kid, I gots no info on any of der Vulpix around the area. Well, there was that one kid that stopped in here with his Vulpix, but that’s ‘bout it. He was the last of a ton, till yeh made it through those wads of meat. Er, how did yeh get through, anyhoos?”
“Ha, it’s sort of a long story, really…” Sheepishly, she rubbed the back of her neck, twiddling her hair nervously. The massive bodyguard rubbed his chin lined with stubble for a moment, eying the girl.
“Team Missile’s after yeh, ain’t they.”
“What?! Why would you say-”
“Comes on. I know they want Kiyo for der hatred she has towards the group and how strong she is- a menace really, to their kind- but somethin’ tells meh she woulda just blown em all to bits, no matter how many there were. Stron’ and hot-headed, passionate trainer, like her brothas. Nah, I reckon they threatened somethin’ about yeh two tykes. Kiyo’s weakness is her heart, but even then they musta done some serious things to get her to a point where she’s injured.” He paused. “Yeh catch my drift?”
“I’m afraid I really don’t…”
“Ok, ha, lemme put it to yer bluntly honestly and all that then…I sorta overheard the hollerin’ and your, er, translation of that Combusken song.” She froze in her spot, eyes wide. I’m definitely going to have at Kara for being so pushy and noisy about the whole charade. “Yer definitely not some normal little tyke, are you…?” A lump slid into her voicebox, making it difficult to force the words out, caught with nowhere left to run.
“Y-yeah.”
“Those goonies want yeh for that there talent.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, smack ‘em up side the head!”
“I can’t yet. I’m still a beginning trainer.”
“Ah, see, there’s yer problem,” Nail wagged a slightly pudgy finger at her.
“But I have Kiyo by-”
“Not what I meant.”
“Eh? But you said-”
“I knows what I said, an’ I hold to that.” The blonde appeared extremely confused. “Lemme put it this way- begins with c, an’ ends in ant.”
“Can’t?”
“Ah, see, we need to erase that word from yer vocabulary, missy!”
“But I-”
“Ah! Not another! Demn girl, I’mma have to take yeh unda my wing and teach yeh some things!” He took a gruff hand on her shoulder, dragging her towards the exit of the center.
“Wha? But Kiyo and Kara…”
“Enough! We’s gonna learn yeh this stuff well! Hope yeh’ve got yer Pokemon, Chris!”
“Crystal! Not Chris!” However, she was flustered, unable to come up with any comebacks. He drew her to a rest area meant for vehicles and the like. He threw his foot up onto a log bench, almost in a declaration. Aquamarine eyes gazed on expectantly as he articulated his words.
“Okays. Now, life is like a barbecue.”
“Say what?”
“Do yeh want to learn or not?!”
“Actually, I was kinda dragged into it…”
“That’s cause yer habits are bad! We needs to break yeh of them!” He roared, and Torch wobbled dangerously on his shoulder with the blank look upon his face. “First of all, say yeh can’t, it means yeh can’t, which means yeh won’t, which means yeh’ll never get anywhere in yer life! Abandon these foolish terms!”
“But-”
“Second, anything after but is like a butt in itself- all it does and whines about is-” he swore in his heavy accent, making the girl wince back a little bit. “Straight to the point is best for the soul, as meh ol’ Paps told meh. Honesty. Belief. Loyalty. Kindness. Courage. These are the basics of succeedin’ and bein’ happy on your quest. Yeh’ll get nowhere without them, like those power-hungry little-” And at this point the man stringed more profanities with normal demeaning words together than she had heard of before. Again, she winced back considerably. “-Missiles! Ha, someone’ll puttem in their rightful place of the smelliest slum eventually. So, we’s clear on that whole dealy?”
“Yes…”
“Good. Alright. How many badges you got?”
“One; I just beat Forrest Ridgebrook a handful of days ago.”
“Ah, the Nature Badge, the first of eight.” He grinned approvingly. “How old yeh say yeh was, missy?”
“Crystal, and I’m just about ten and a half. I had my half birthday in August…”
“Started a little late, didn’t yeh?”
“Yeah, my mom was so hysterical about me leaving that she basically put me under house arrest for six months until my siblings and I convinced her otherwise...”
“Har, I dun imagine why.”
“Baby of five siblings.” Crystal muttered.
“Oh ho! That explains ev’rythin’. Just like Kiyo, then.”
“Huh? But Kiyo’s only got two other siblings I thought…” The burly and somewhat portly man gave a chuckle.
“Ah, my bad. She still hasn’t told yeh, then.”
“Told me what?”
“About the events of one of her darkest secrets.”
“What secret?”
“That’s fer her to say. Aye, when she trusts yeh well enough, I s’pose it’ll come up at one point or another. She’s a rather close-hearted girl, toughened by her brothers. I s’pose she spoke of Kaien and Kouta?”
“A little bit. I think she mentioned their names once or twice and spoke a little of them.”
“Ah, see, prolly too busy with current events to git down to der details.”
“You know a lot of Kiyo and her family…” Cautiously the blonde one sat down on a nearby oak log that had long since been dry and only recently chopped down.
“Like I said, I practic’lly raised der family after her father took off before her birth. Der others never saw their father much anyways. Prolly for the best. Just wanted the mother for her body, I take it, and didn’t want the respons’bility of kids. Anyhoo, der eldest- and prolly most immature of the fam’ly-” at this Nail grinned. “Kaien, he was introduced to me by a mutual friend. Demn, that kid was young to be hanging around us, only sixteen, I’d say, and we was in our early twenties! Ah, well, he still got along. Had some long stubborn slate blue hair, that kid, not unlike der other Dustrens, though they all varied in color. He didn’t like it much, though. He got his hands on some dye, and you shoulda seen the boys and how badly they were roarin’ with laughter when they saw der purple bird-head. Ha, I still smile about it these days…” And the grin grew that much wider, showing impeccably clean pink gums, which clashed horridly against his tobacco-stained teeth. “So, he brings meh home to der family one day in Johto, and we all became fairly close, minus one sibling that was later disowned from them.”
“Who was disowned?”
“Stop with yer questionin’!” he swatted angrily. “It gits annoyin’ to be tellin’ a story and be harassed with these blasted questions.”
“Sorry…continue.”
“Anyhoos, the mother didn’t care much about the fam’ly, so I was worried about them. I came to visit lots. Ha, an’ little tyke Kiya always sorta referred to meh as ‘Unca Nail’. Quite der innocent child, despite Kouta’s an’ Kaien’s disturbed sense of humor.” Seeming to reminisce, he shook his slightly balding head lightly. “Yeh know men their age act more their shoesize more than anything else. Well, at least Kouta tried to appear serious as he grew up. Poor Kiya, though, was only of six when I was introduced to der family. Such a real pity for her to grow up in an area where she was better off without a no-good father and a drugged-up, do-nothing mother.
“Well, der mother eventually abandoned them, and stayed I did for a while, till news dragged meh back to Beghta. I had some…rather pressing business with der locals of mah grillin’ service to deal with. Adult issues, yeh know. Thank god der youngest brother, who yeh will learn about later when Kiya discusses it with yeh!, managed to really lead der family and all of that, even as Kai’ took off for Kanto and Kouta to der rest of Johto. Oh, ya, didn’t ya know that each of the Dustrens had been given an Eevee egg, about to hatch, before they were to grow big enough and start their adventures?”
“Eh? Really?”
“Yah. Kaien’s became a Jolteon, and one that was always mad at the world, it seemed. Had anger issues, those Pokemon, which was surprising for Kai’s ‘laugh-at-ev’rything’ attitude. Kouta’s became a silent and powerful Espeon. Espy, he called her, I think. Big baby, Kouta always was… der middle child’s became a Vaporeon. Kinda iffy about that Vaporeon all der time, though. The younges’ brotha and Kiya’s didn’t evolve till later, and they both got respectively an Umbreon and a Flareon.”
“So, the whole Eevee family-” and she paused. “Wait, but I know Kiyo got Jolteon from Kaien when he left for some place or other, but she also has-”
“Umbree, yea, yea,” he coldly responded. “She was given him as a present as an Eevee. Had nuttin’ to do with der fam’ly. But, well, that was after she went an’ started her journey round Johto two years late for der normal trainer…”
“An’ from there it snowballed, her abilities. She was a bit cold, yeah, but she couldn’t say no to someone in need. First thing any trainer needs: kindness. One act of random kindness a day kept der karma monster away, as Kai used to say. She also was sorta beaten around by her brothers lightly when she told a lie, no matter how brutal der truth was. Honesty, and she learned that lesson quickly. Obviously she got yeh guys out of trouble, taking damage for herself instead of just fleeing away. Loyalty an’ courage. However, despite all that that kid’s gone through, the domination, and I mean, complete and utter tearin’ to bits of der Elite Four of der Indigo Plateau with all sixteen badges of the Tohjo Regions as they’re called, somethin’ tells meh she still hasn’t quite found complete belief in herself…though it’s clear she’s got tons more than yeh do.
“And that’s why I say life’s like a barbecue!” The man rounded about onto his original comment, rubbing his thumb under his nose. “When you first cook, you burn der dogs and undercook der beef. And that really gits to ya! It’s only with diligence, humble strength and understandin’ der proper recipe for life that yeh make perfectly grilled and irresistible franks and yer dishin’ out burgers like yer a healthier fast food joint of some kind.” Gazing at the overly enthusiastic grillsman and his unfeeling Magby, Crystal nearly doubled over immediately. I would have never thought of telling a trainer how to improve themselves through barbecue analogies… “Anyhoo, I assume that yeh have had many battles on the bridge, then?”
“Er, not really.”
“Agh! Alrigh’ then. First off. How many Pokemon yeh have?”
“Four.” Five if Breeze is still out there, still alive, the girl thought privately to herself.
“Four, eh? Still new to der whole battlin’ scheme, I take it then?”
“Ah, yeah, I’ve only really had three battles so far.”
“Th-THREE BATTLES?” he rose his voice ludicrously. “Three measly stinkin’ little battles?!”
“I mostly fight against wild Pokemon. I never really-”
“Har! Oh, no, this has to change! Yeh’ll never develop that last, probably most important trait if yeh hide in the woods, havin’ yer puny little servants fight off fledglin’ Pidgey and Zigzagoon!” Crowing like a maniac, his guffawing was rather mad. “Come! I’s learn yeh about battlin’ an’ controllin’ yer Pokemon!” Abruptly Keith rummaged into his rather whole-covered jeans, and whipped out a glossy Pokeball, which was released quickly. A rather impish looking Zubat fluttered there. “We’ll start with one on one battlin’, then. This’ll be great experience for yeh. Yeh look like you need it ‘specially bad too, unlike most beginners.” Crystal blushed. Am I that behind the times, to not know anything at all about training and battling? “First of all, before yeh grab for yer Pokeball, take a minute to check out der situation out. Check your opponent’s confidence, see if yeh can’t get a peer into his mind. He may want you to send out a Psychic type, so that he could quickly get rid of it with a Shadow Ball. Or, he might despise the thought of a Psychic type all together.
“After you’ve determined what yer opponent may or may not be strategizin’ on his bare look, decide yer Pokemon. It’s like drivin’ a car- you are bound to be terrible at it at first. So, try and think what might be best in this situation, based on what yeh have so far.” Slowly, the blonde nodded. Well, he does have a rather rare Pokemon, Magby, and to me that meant that such an common Pokemon like Zubat might have more moves or surprises than normal... Cautiously allowing her mind to whir, she unclipped the second Pokeball on her belt, and held it forth. Flare appeared with a burst, standing in light steps, eyes locked on the bat, who was swinging back and forth, emitting small squeaks occasionally.
“Good. I take it yeh don’t have an electric type yet. Most don’t at this point. However, most woulda thrown out a Rattata or something else with a fairly high attack power and low defense, though they send it out because they know that Zubat learn Astonish early on, and want to protect against that. However, Leech Life is just as annoying and easily does a ton of damage. Bringing out a Torchic, though, with a decent Special Attack and a fire move, and yeh should be able to clean out der Zubat. Yeh get what I’m saying?”
“Sorta…”
“Don’t know much about stats, eh?”
“Not really.”
“Ha, well, not a lot of trainers really pay attention to stats. Yer not alone there, kid. Yeh know yer Pokemon stats at all?”
“Well, actually, my Pokegear is broken and pretty much useless. It doesn’t really give me much of anything besides the ‘level’ and how my Pokemon is doing health-wise,” Crystal mumbled.
“Tha’s fine. Anyways, what sort of nature does yer Torchic have?”
“Um…a calm one, I’d say.”
“Ah, see, calm natures are known for being prepared against most Special Attacks defensively, and seem to worry a bit more about that than they do actually attackin’ another Pokemon physically. So, to put it bluntly, yer Torchic is gonna receive slightly less damage than it would from, say, a Thundershock than der next one, and it’ll also have lower attack than the other one. I ain’t gonna get into describin’ each of der five aspects of trainin’, but I trust yeh’ll get to know them soon enough by general sight. But der one yeh really wanna know about is speed. Speed is the key to each battle; obviously some lame lazy Pokemon like Snorlax ain’t gonna beat a Scyther in der speed category. Anyhoo, back to the battle!
“See now, I’d say that Torchic and Zubat are about evenly matched in speed rankings…unless yer Torchic’s exactly at or at a considerable lower level than mine. Yeh can check most of these things on yer Gear stuff, but yeh won’t be able to see der stats of the attacking Pokemon, unless der trainer shares that info with yeh, which, of course they ain’t! Why would they give that prized info away! They dun know why it’s important- they’s just know. Trainer’s instinct. Ne’er doubt it in der heat of battle.
“Anyhoo, now yeh should issue yer attack here. Der key is getting der opponent down as fast as possible with little chance for der opposin’ trainer to plot. Now, what’chure Torchic know?”
“Flamethrower, Scratch, and Growl.”
“And Ember.”
“And Em-what?” With a quick, quiescent hiss she bent down to the Pokemon.
“I learned it shortly after that double-battle. I leveled up, I believe the term is, to level ‘ten’. I’ve heard that that estimated level is when most of my kind learn Ember.”
“When did you learn about your kind?”
“Shouldn’t you be learning yourself?”
“And trainer gets owned by Pokemon…” said trainer whined, before returning to her feet. “And Ember, I guess.”
“Ah, so she’s still around that age, then, before my Zubat, meaning it’ll have der speed advantage. Anyhoo, I believe yeh might’ve been warned about Flamethrower.”
“Yeah?”
“Use it.”
“What?”
“I says, use the move on der Zubat!”
“Won’t it…kill it though?” Crystal gulped towards her Torchic. Flare rose her sapphire gaze curiously to her.
“Har! Naw. I dun think a baby could kill anyone at such a young age with that move. No, I want yeh to see just how yeh should learn to use der moves. Go on.”
“Okay…Flare, use Flamethrower.”
“Are you sure?” she questioned lightly, as though it was not exactly the most wisest of moves.
“Yes.”
“Alright then…” Before the flames could dance, the man commanded his blue bat.
“Ok, Zubat, use Astonish on der Pokemon. See if yeh can’t git it to flinch.” And the Pokemon seemed to give an ultrasonic screech that she couldn’t understand, and flew forward into the Torchic, rearing back at the last possible second; as the cool wind rushed past the little bird, she gave a startled and instinctive jump back, though she was determined to take action.
With that, the chick breathed in, and suddenly a current of flames rippled and surged towards the Zubat, whom was enclosed in the flames. She finished the flames when she ran out of breath, taking a moment to recuperate herself. The bat had pummeled a few inches, flames dying off his leathery wing tips. Soon he fluttered with his heavy beats, back in position, awaiting a new order.
“Huh?”
“Yeh see, told yeh a little baby still couldn’t do that much. Also, check your Torchic for a sec.” Bemused, her blue gaze fell upon the brightly feathered creature. She seemed to be panting lightly, even though near full health. “Yeh know why she’s exhausted already?”
“No?”
“She’s still learning to master der move. High power moves drain most Pokemon till they have really practiced with der move. Thus, the inexperienced that doesn’t work its way up the ladder of trainin’ is bound to be more tirin’ than der typical low-energy move, like Ember. However, she did seem to really tire my boy out here. He ain’t at his best, yeh know. Always keep der benefits and drawbacks of these powerful moves like this in mind.
“Anyhoos, I’ve already had to fight off a few little nasty blood-suckers from mah arms. Blasted mosquitoes. I think we should head in an’ call it a nigh’, don’t yeh?”
“Yeah,” Crystal nodded, swiping a few away herself, though she was sure she had blood drained from her a few times before he mentioned it.
“Well, I know yeh’s all gonna wanna take off the moment yeh see light tomarra, so I won’t be able to teach yeh much about double battlin’ and combos and der like. That’s more up Kiya’s alley, anyways. Heard she beat Kouta in a match once. She’s a good teach. Never question her words. Oh, and I hope I’ll see yeh again. Hopefully der nonsense at der bridge will clear up and I’ll be able to return home in Sunburst for der Labor Day barbecue, yeh know.” he grinned, showing his stained teeth once more as he slapped his gut. “Der fire pits call meh before der winter sets in!” Crystal, of course, was more surprised that it was already getting so late- she had started at the end of July, after all. This is going to be the first time I’m going to miss out on a family cook out, she sadly thought. There’s not much that can be done about the situation, though. I chose this path for myself. There’s no use looking back upon it and yearning to be back there when I wanted to be away from it so much and on this journey! Still, I miss everyone all the same…
As the man went back inside to tend to the bite marks with some anti-itch cream, Kara and Crystal were handed a key for their room, where they would spend the night without Kiyo by their side. As her feet carried her across the manila tiled floor, realization of the journey struck home for Crystal. Thoughts clouded her ability to sleep as she tossed and turned in her sleeping bag, hugging Dragola and Flare close to her for company and comfort. Flora had settled herself down on a spare bed where the moonlight was pouring in; the bluish light reflected off her glossy leaves. The weed Pokemon merely stared at the Combusken nuzzled up to Kara, probably bored and unable to still change her daily sleep schedule to match that of her trainer’s. Sergeant Pup strolled back and forth near the exit, occasionally pausing, listening, sitting down, before he went back to the rut his paws were causing on the floor. They don’t strike me as the snuggling types much, anyway…
The sleeping Pokemon hardly noticed their master’s predicament, but the girl suddenly felt a longing for Umbree. There was just something about the creature, dark and foreboding as he was rumored to be because of his race, that she felt drawn to. He had acted weirdly in the woods after the events of the Apollo Bridge. He seemed…different, even if she couldn’t explain it. His voice…was I imagining that it changed, too? Or am I just slowly going insane from the constant pressure and fear from Team Missile poisonously wearing me out? Still, I can’t help but feel worried without Kiyo by my side, too. Maybe I’m depending on her more than I would like to now…maybe I should just depend on myself more… All of her thoughts aside, all the girl wanted, as her unpleasant dreams accepted her in against this negative thinking, was to see her father again; she missed him more dearly, having not seen him in years, than any other member of her family.
Ick, I still have to really edit this chapter. Don't like the part where Nail painstakingly explains stuff. Aw well. I still love my drummer.
Chapter 14- Three Meas'ly Little Battles?!
“How is Kiyo and Umbree going to be, doctor?” Crystal hastily jumped to her feet, as a female doctor in classy specs walked out of the ER area.
“Umbree is going to be fine. However, I’m one for Pokemon diseases and injuries. I did all I could with my human biology knowledge…let’s hope that’s enough. You may visit her if you like.” She gave a half-hearted smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have insurance papers I have to file and I have to make sure my colleague doesn’t torch any innocent person walking past the center…” With that, Crystal and Kara were left to barge into the recovery room, where Kiyo was sitting rather uncomfortably in a bed with several tight bandages wrapped around her ankle. Umbree was right next to her, and she was stroking his head affectionately, when she noticed the pair walk in.
“Oh, you look a mess…” the brunette muttered. “If only I knew a little more about human medicine…”
“Nah, it wasn’t your fault this happened,” the sable-haired trainer breathed out, relaxing against the pillow. “Granted that Cheri juice was nasty, it does work wonders…I can feel my foot now. Gah, but it hurts like a-”
“Right, I’m sure it does,” Crystal cut her off, settling down in one of the visitation chairs. She glanced to Umbree, then to Kara.
“Ah, that’s right. That reminds me. What exactly happened? I want the full truth, nothing but the truth, so help you guys…” the teen’s emerald eyes narrowed. At this, Crystal heaved a huge sigh.
“Kara, I know that, uh, this news is going to be rather difficult to receive and all…”
“What? Nothing could shake me and my beliefs. Enough. Spill.”
“Kara, the something concerning Crystal…it’s something that could determine the freedom of the world or not…” Silver and gold eyes narrowed.
“Do you have to put it that dramatically?” the gifted girl allowed her eyes to briefly glare at the ceiling.
“That’s the sugar-coated version, kid…”
“Huh? Well, do tell me, then. If it’s this important…”
“We were just trying to protect you from this knowledge as long as possible. I hope you can handle the risks. You’ll be targeted by Team Missile, now that I’m saying this…” Crystal sighed, and took a deeper breath. With a knowing glance to Kiyo, her gaze finally fell on the new travelling companion.
“I…was given the ability to speak to and understand Pokemon.”
There was a long silence, before Kara chuckled.
“Ha, haha. Cute. I don’t like it when you’re lying. Now, come on. Seriously.”
“I am being dead serious.”
Another long pause. The teen appeared dumbfounded. It was then up to Kiyo and Crystal together to explain to her all of the events that had happened in that last month and three-quarters or so, ranging from the very exciting start of her journey, Team Missile’s kidnapping her, Kiyo busting her out, how she gained the ability in the first place, starting over anew, and every event up until when they met the bewildered trainer. The situation took well over an hour to explain, and by the end of it, Kara still hadn’t said a word. Umbree had settled himself on Crystal’s lap, after Kiyo’s wrists grew tired and could not pet him any longer.
“Kara…?” the youngest questioned. Even the dark type gazed up from underneath her hand.
“T-this…” she stuttered. “I need proof! There’s just no way it’s…” she threw open her Pokeball containing Combusken frustratedly. “Just no way it’s possible. Combusken, I need you to sing your favorite song. If you can tell what a Pokemon is saying, then tell me what the lyrics are!” Both of the trainers sighed. This…is not going to be easy.
“Ugh, I hate it when people ask me to do this to prove my truth…” the pink banged trainer muttered, and turned to the Combusken. “…Well, go on,” she urged with a whisper, switching languages. The young fowl was rather hesitant at first, though finally she started to click her tongue, and whistle out the song. It was harsher than Flare’s song, though the lyrics were very powerful. She repeated after the bird, singing along in English. The medic could not believe her eyes and ears at this amazing spectacle. Shortly after she ended the song, the fire-fighting type was recalled in a feat of astonishment.
“I…I…um…” the trainer staggered with her words.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you…oh my god…wow. I just…can’t believe that. There’s no way you would’ve known that song and that it’s just our song, too…” A somber reality seemed to come over her face. “So, you really are in danger, and they are trying to catch you for this?”
“Yeah…well, I think I’ll be fine for a while, as long as Kiyo’s by my side, the strong rascal she is,” Mewster joked and poked Kiyo, who grunted unaffectionately. “Besides, as long as I can help her to get this special Hiune, we’re all set.”
“A special Hiune…?”
“It’s white,” Kiyo simply croaked.
“Aren’t they normally reddish?
“Yeah.”
“Why a white one, then?”
“I have my reasons.” the experienced trainer mumbled.
“Oh, shoot! We forgot to ask about that Vulpix we heard about in the forest…” the youngest sprung to her feet, just as a man in his very early thirties with a slightly unshaven face and a Magby sitting upon his huge shoulders barged in. A thread of straw hung in his mouth, and he grinned, baring discolored teeth belonging to a smoker.
“Ah, der little tyke’s doin’ all righ’ then,” he spoke with a heavy accent.
“Ha, I wouldn’t be talking with that Magby on your shoulders, guy,” Kiyo threw a comment back. A smirk grew upon her once dismal face.
“Kiya Dustren…good to see yeh back in town finally,” he chuckled, and entered the room. Crystal stared for a moment.
“You know this man?”
“Yeah, friend of the family.”
“Frien’ of der fam’ly? FRIEN’ OF DER FAM’LY? Aw, Kiya, yeh always were der tough gal that yer brothas turned yeh into,” the man gave her a noogie, and she made no reaction to it.
“I take it you two are close, then…” Kara took a moment to stare at the little fire spit Pokemon. It wobbled back and forth occasionally on the large man’s shoulders to keep its balance, though his face remained stoic.
“Hah! I practic’lly raised der little tyke since she was barely old enough to get her Eevee before her mom ditched the family. Her pap was ne’er there either. Shame, really. Had to help ‘em out somehow, eh? Couldn’t just let ol’ Kaien an’ Kouta raise yeh. It’s a good thing that I an’ der lil’ F-”
“Please don’t speak of that,” Kiyo suddenly cut him off.
“Ah, I see yer still sore about that. Can’t blame yeh,” the man sighed, brown eyes still glittering, before turning his massive body to her two friends. “Travelin’ with der less priv’ledged youn’uns, are yeah?”
“Yeah. Always a handful, this pair.” The trainer smirked, thumbing both of them, though spending considerable time nudging towards Mewster, who’s face dropped in slight ire. The man chuckled.
“Ha, well, well met, I s’pose. Der name’s Keith Milla, m’ladies, maker of der best demned ribs ye’ll ever taste, though yeh can call meh Nail. I also have two friens’, yeh know, an’ they’s called Torch an’ Portly,” he smacked his stomach lightly, which gently bulged out from his white stained shirt, covered in little burn marks and barbecue stains. The girls couldn’t help but giggle a little bit.
“Kara Hikorume of Zenith, sir, dealing in the medicines career.”
“And I’m Crystal Hikara of Dawndew, a wannabe trainer.”
“An’ it’s with pleasure I meet yeh two.” Nail took a little bow, before turning to Kiyo. “But boy, did those fools ever mess yeh up like this…”
“Ha, it could’ve been tons worse, I s’pose…” The accent from the man seemed to bring forth a little of the fire trainer’s well disguised accent. “For all I know, they coulda thrown me into the water below the bridge, or really paralyze me and my friends, or even worse.”
“Aye, but we have to be thankful for that, yups.” The man paused, feeling a sudden vibration in his pocket. He withdrew a pager, and examined the number. “Well, I guess we’s be expecting comp’ny this early in the ev’ning, eh? I’ll be back, little tykes. Hang in there.” He grinned, and took off, Torch hopping into one of his massive hands.
“…he’s weird.”
“Maybe a little bit. Ha, but, you know, kept me out of trouble when I was younger. Great drummer, too. And man, those ribs he cooks are to die for. Oh no, now I want them. Ehhhhh…” Kiyo whined, cussing at her blasted foot. “If it wasn’t for this stupid foot, I’d bring you guys over to his grill’n’bar and treat you to them…and pig out myself…” A sudden yell came from the entrance of the Center, causing the entire party to jump.
“YEH SCUMBAGS! GIT OUTTA OUR CENTER, CREEPS!” There was much shouting, as well as the smell of sulfur. Peeking out, Kara and Crystal were astonished to see Nail holding out Torch like some sort of flamethrower and commanding the little fire type to burn away at a few Missile Grunts. “THINK YEH CAN PRANCE ON IN AN’ TAKE UVER MAH CENTER, YEH BE CRAZY! BURN FOR ETERNITY IN HE-”
“Keith!” screamed the doctor of the small center.
“There were them Missile scumbags, though, miss! They’s deserve to cook on der grill!” he snarled.
“Still, you’re going to startle our slumbering patients that’ve retired early! Must you yell so loud?”
“How else am I ‘sposed to be intimirdatin’ them off then miss?”
“Fire is good enough to send them running in their rubber boots. What a nasty smell of sulfur…” the doctor mumbled, and she had a Starly clear the putrid air out of the windows with some well aimed Gusts. The man rubbed the bottom of his nose with his thumb lightly, slightly embarrassed at being chewed out. He soon saw the pair at the edge of Kiyo’s sickroom.
“Like that lil’ display there, tykes?”
“…You know what? You’re crazy…” Kara eyed him bizarrely, though the man only boomed as the baby Magmar struggled onto his shoulders again, still with his deadpan expression.
“Crazy? Har! Naws, we just don’t want those maggot-infested, flea-bitten dogs to be crawling around and biting ev’ryone in der butts an’ passin’ on their rabies. Treacherous, no-good excuses for humans,” he spat outside at the place where the two grunts had been standing. “Think they can best meh. Har! Such a laugh there...” Nail moved away from the door, headed off to the staff section, but Crystal felt as though this man could possibly hold some answers. She whispered something remotely to Kara, who returned to the recovery room whilst the younger of the two dashed off to catch up with the man.
“Excuse me, Mr. Miller?”
“Mista Milla? Little tyke, I’s be surpised yer saying such these things. Just Nail, kid.”
“Okay, Nail…” It felt somewhat intimidating to call such a full-grown man by his bizarre nickname so openly. She was always told to treat all elders with the respect that they deserved in that manner. It was thus that her words were a tad bit broken up. “Er, I was just wondering, you know, if you had, er, heard of a baby Vulpix near the Bridge.”
“Eh? A Hiun’, you say?” She nodded briefly. “Ah, I think I haven’t. Sorry, kid, I gots no info on any of der Vulpix around the area. Well, there was that one kid that stopped in here with his Vulpix, but that’s ‘bout it. He was the last of a ton, till yeh made it through those wads of meat. Er, how did yeh get through, anyhoos?”
“Ha, it’s sort of a long story, really…” Sheepishly, she rubbed the back of her neck, twiddling her hair nervously. The massive bodyguard rubbed his chin lined with stubble for a moment, eying the girl.
“Team Missile’s after yeh, ain’t they.”
“What?! Why would you say-”
“Comes on. I know they want Kiyo for der hatred she has towards the group and how strong she is- a menace really, to their kind- but somethin’ tells meh she woulda just blown em all to bits, no matter how many there were. Stron’ and hot-headed, passionate trainer, like her brothas. Nah, I reckon they threatened somethin’ about yeh two tykes. Kiyo’s weakness is her heart, but even then they musta done some serious things to get her to a point where she’s injured.” He paused. “Yeh catch my drift?”
“I’m afraid I really don’t…”
“Ok, ha, lemme put it to yer bluntly honestly and all that then…I sorta overheard the hollerin’ and your, er, translation of that Combusken song.” She froze in her spot, eyes wide. I’m definitely going to have at Kara for being so pushy and noisy about the whole charade. “Yer definitely not some normal little tyke, are you…?” A lump slid into her voicebox, making it difficult to force the words out, caught with nowhere left to run.
“Y-yeah.”
“Those goonies want yeh for that there talent.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, smack ‘em up side the head!”
“I can’t yet. I’m still a beginning trainer.”
“Ah, see, there’s yer problem,” Nail wagged a slightly pudgy finger at her.
“But I have Kiyo by-”
“Not what I meant.”
“Eh? But you said-”
“I knows what I said, an’ I hold to that.” The blonde appeared extremely confused. “Lemme put it this way- begins with c, an’ ends in ant.”
“Can’t?”
“Ah, see, we need to erase that word from yer vocabulary, missy!”
“But I-”
“Ah! Not another! Demn girl, I’mma have to take yeh unda my wing and teach yeh some things!” He took a gruff hand on her shoulder, dragging her towards the exit of the center.
“Wha? But Kiyo and Kara…”
“Enough! We’s gonna learn yeh this stuff well! Hope yeh’ve got yer Pokemon, Chris!”
“Crystal! Not Chris!” However, she was flustered, unable to come up with any comebacks. He drew her to a rest area meant for vehicles and the like. He threw his foot up onto a log bench, almost in a declaration. Aquamarine eyes gazed on expectantly as he articulated his words.
“Okays. Now, life is like a barbecue.”
“Say what?”
“Do yeh want to learn or not?!”
“Actually, I was kinda dragged into it…”
“That’s cause yer habits are bad! We needs to break yeh of them!” He roared, and Torch wobbled dangerously on his shoulder with the blank look upon his face. “First of all, say yeh can’t, it means yeh can’t, which means yeh won’t, which means yeh’ll never get anywhere in yer life! Abandon these foolish terms!”
“But-”
“Second, anything after but is like a butt in itself- all it does and whines about is-” he swore in his heavy accent, making the girl wince back a little bit. “Straight to the point is best for the soul, as meh ol’ Paps told meh. Honesty. Belief. Loyalty. Kindness. Courage. These are the basics of succeedin’ and bein’ happy on your quest. Yeh’ll get nowhere without them, like those power-hungry little-” And at this point the man stringed more profanities with normal demeaning words together than she had heard of before. Again, she winced back considerably. “-Missiles! Ha, someone’ll puttem in their rightful place of the smelliest slum eventually. So, we’s clear on that whole dealy?”
“Yes…”
“Good. Alright. How many badges you got?”
“One; I just beat Forrest Ridgebrook a handful of days ago.”
“Ah, the Nature Badge, the first of eight.” He grinned approvingly. “How old yeh say yeh was, missy?”
“Crystal, and I’m just about ten and a half. I had my half birthday in August…”
“Started a little late, didn’t yeh?”
“Yeah, my mom was so hysterical about me leaving that she basically put me under house arrest for six months until my siblings and I convinced her otherwise...”
“Har, I dun imagine why.”
“Baby of five siblings.” Crystal muttered.
“Oh ho! That explains ev’rythin’. Just like Kiyo, then.”
“Huh? But Kiyo’s only got two other siblings I thought…” The burly and somewhat portly man gave a chuckle.
“Ah, my bad. She still hasn’t told yeh, then.”
“Told me what?”
“About the events of one of her darkest secrets.”
“What secret?”
“That’s fer her to say. Aye, when she trusts yeh well enough, I s’pose it’ll come up at one point or another. She’s a rather close-hearted girl, toughened by her brothers. I s’pose she spoke of Kaien and Kouta?”
“A little bit. I think she mentioned their names once or twice and spoke a little of them.”
“Ah, see, prolly too busy with current events to git down to der details.”
“You know a lot of Kiyo and her family…” Cautiously the blonde one sat down on a nearby oak log that had long since been dry and only recently chopped down.
“Like I said, I practic’lly raised der family after her father took off before her birth. Der others never saw their father much anyways. Prolly for the best. Just wanted the mother for her body, I take it, and didn’t want the respons’bility of kids. Anyhoo, der eldest- and prolly most immature of the fam’ly-” at this Nail grinned. “Kaien, he was introduced to me by a mutual friend. Demn, that kid was young to be hanging around us, only sixteen, I’d say, and we was in our early twenties! Ah, well, he still got along. Had some long stubborn slate blue hair, that kid, not unlike der other Dustrens, though they all varied in color. He didn’t like it much, though. He got his hands on some dye, and you shoulda seen the boys and how badly they were roarin’ with laughter when they saw der purple bird-head. Ha, I still smile about it these days…” And the grin grew that much wider, showing impeccably clean pink gums, which clashed horridly against his tobacco-stained teeth. “So, he brings meh home to der family one day in Johto, and we all became fairly close, minus one sibling that was later disowned from them.”
“Who was disowned?”
“Stop with yer questionin’!” he swatted angrily. “It gits annoyin’ to be tellin’ a story and be harassed with these blasted questions.”
“Sorry…continue.”
“Anyhoos, the mother didn’t care much about the fam’ly, so I was worried about them. I came to visit lots. Ha, an’ little tyke Kiya always sorta referred to meh as ‘Unca Nail’. Quite der innocent child, despite Kouta’s an’ Kaien’s disturbed sense of humor.” Seeming to reminisce, he shook his slightly balding head lightly. “Yeh know men their age act more their shoesize more than anything else. Well, at least Kouta tried to appear serious as he grew up. Poor Kiya, though, was only of six when I was introduced to der family. Such a real pity for her to grow up in an area where she was better off without a no-good father and a drugged-up, do-nothing mother.
“Well, der mother eventually abandoned them, and stayed I did for a while, till news dragged meh back to Beghta. I had some…rather pressing business with der locals of mah grillin’ service to deal with. Adult issues, yeh know. Thank god der youngest brother, who yeh will learn about later when Kiya discusses it with yeh!, managed to really lead der family and all of that, even as Kai’ took off for Kanto and Kouta to der rest of Johto. Oh, ya, didn’t ya know that each of the Dustrens had been given an Eevee egg, about to hatch, before they were to grow big enough and start their adventures?”
“Eh? Really?”
“Yah. Kaien’s became a Jolteon, and one that was always mad at the world, it seemed. Had anger issues, those Pokemon, which was surprising for Kai’s ‘laugh-at-ev’rything’ attitude. Kouta’s became a silent and powerful Espeon. Espy, he called her, I think. Big baby, Kouta always was… der middle child’s became a Vaporeon. Kinda iffy about that Vaporeon all der time, though. The younges’ brotha and Kiya’s didn’t evolve till later, and they both got respectively an Umbreon and a Flareon.”
“So, the whole Eevee family-” and she paused. “Wait, but I know Kiyo got Jolteon from Kaien when he left for some place or other, but she also has-”
“Umbree, yea, yea,” he coldly responded. “She was given him as a present as an Eevee. Had nuttin’ to do with der fam’ly. But, well, that was after she went an’ started her journey round Johto two years late for der normal trainer…”
“An’ from there it snowballed, her abilities. She was a bit cold, yeah, but she couldn’t say no to someone in need. First thing any trainer needs: kindness. One act of random kindness a day kept der karma monster away, as Kai used to say. She also was sorta beaten around by her brothers lightly when she told a lie, no matter how brutal der truth was. Honesty, and she learned that lesson quickly. Obviously she got yeh guys out of trouble, taking damage for herself instead of just fleeing away. Loyalty an’ courage. However, despite all that that kid’s gone through, the domination, and I mean, complete and utter tearin’ to bits of der Elite Four of der Indigo Plateau with all sixteen badges of the Tohjo Regions as they’re called, somethin’ tells meh she still hasn’t quite found complete belief in herself…though it’s clear she’s got tons more than yeh do.
“And that’s why I say life’s like a barbecue!” The man rounded about onto his original comment, rubbing his thumb under his nose. “When you first cook, you burn der dogs and undercook der beef. And that really gits to ya! It’s only with diligence, humble strength and understandin’ der proper recipe for life that yeh make perfectly grilled and irresistible franks and yer dishin’ out burgers like yer a healthier fast food joint of some kind.” Gazing at the overly enthusiastic grillsman and his unfeeling Magby, Crystal nearly doubled over immediately. I would have never thought of telling a trainer how to improve themselves through barbecue analogies… “Anyhoo, I assume that yeh have had many battles on the bridge, then?”
“Er, not really.”
“Agh! Alrigh’ then. First off. How many Pokemon yeh have?”
“Four.” Five if Breeze is still out there, still alive, the girl thought privately to herself.
“Four, eh? Still new to der whole battlin’ scheme, I take it then?”
“Ah, yeah, I’ve only really had three battles so far.”
“Th-THREE BATTLES?” he rose his voice ludicrously. “Three measly stinkin’ little battles?!”
“I mostly fight against wild Pokemon. I never really-”
“Har! Oh, no, this has to change! Yeh’ll never develop that last, probably most important trait if yeh hide in the woods, havin’ yer puny little servants fight off fledglin’ Pidgey and Zigzagoon!” Crowing like a maniac, his guffawing was rather mad. “Come! I’s learn yeh about battlin’ an’ controllin’ yer Pokemon!” Abruptly Keith rummaged into his rather whole-covered jeans, and whipped out a glossy Pokeball, which was released quickly. A rather impish looking Zubat fluttered there. “We’ll start with one on one battlin’, then. This’ll be great experience for yeh. Yeh look like you need it ‘specially bad too, unlike most beginners.” Crystal blushed. Am I that behind the times, to not know anything at all about training and battling? “First of all, before yeh grab for yer Pokeball, take a minute to check out der situation out. Check your opponent’s confidence, see if yeh can’t get a peer into his mind. He may want you to send out a Psychic type, so that he could quickly get rid of it with a Shadow Ball. Or, he might despise the thought of a Psychic type all together.
“After you’ve determined what yer opponent may or may not be strategizin’ on his bare look, decide yer Pokemon. It’s like drivin’ a car- you are bound to be terrible at it at first. So, try and think what might be best in this situation, based on what yeh have so far.” Slowly, the blonde nodded. Well, he does have a rather rare Pokemon, Magby, and to me that meant that such an common Pokemon like Zubat might have more moves or surprises than normal... Cautiously allowing her mind to whir, she unclipped the second Pokeball on her belt, and held it forth. Flare appeared with a burst, standing in light steps, eyes locked on the bat, who was swinging back and forth, emitting small squeaks occasionally.
“Good. I take it yeh don’t have an electric type yet. Most don’t at this point. However, most woulda thrown out a Rattata or something else with a fairly high attack power and low defense, though they send it out because they know that Zubat learn Astonish early on, and want to protect against that. However, Leech Life is just as annoying and easily does a ton of damage. Bringing out a Torchic, though, with a decent Special Attack and a fire move, and yeh should be able to clean out der Zubat. Yeh get what I’m saying?”
“Sorta…”
“Don’t know much about stats, eh?”
“Not really.”
“Ha, well, not a lot of trainers really pay attention to stats. Yer not alone there, kid. Yeh know yer Pokemon stats at all?”
“Well, actually, my Pokegear is broken and pretty much useless. It doesn’t really give me much of anything besides the ‘level’ and how my Pokemon is doing health-wise,” Crystal mumbled.
“Tha’s fine. Anyways, what sort of nature does yer Torchic have?”
“Um…a calm one, I’d say.”
“Ah, see, calm natures are known for being prepared against most Special Attacks defensively, and seem to worry a bit more about that than they do actually attackin’ another Pokemon physically. So, to put it bluntly, yer Torchic is gonna receive slightly less damage than it would from, say, a Thundershock than der next one, and it’ll also have lower attack than the other one. I ain’t gonna get into describin’ each of der five aspects of trainin’, but I trust yeh’ll get to know them soon enough by general sight. But der one yeh really wanna know about is speed. Speed is the key to each battle; obviously some lame lazy Pokemon like Snorlax ain’t gonna beat a Scyther in der speed category. Anyhoo, back to the battle!
“See now, I’d say that Torchic and Zubat are about evenly matched in speed rankings…unless yer Torchic’s exactly at or at a considerable lower level than mine. Yeh can check most of these things on yer Gear stuff, but yeh won’t be able to see der stats of the attacking Pokemon, unless der trainer shares that info with yeh, which, of course they ain’t! Why would they give that prized info away! They dun know why it’s important- they’s just know. Trainer’s instinct. Ne’er doubt it in der heat of battle.
“Anyhoo, now yeh should issue yer attack here. Der key is getting der opponent down as fast as possible with little chance for der opposin’ trainer to plot. Now, what’chure Torchic know?”
“Flamethrower, Scratch, and Growl.”
“And Ember.”
“And Em-what?” With a quick, quiescent hiss she bent down to the Pokemon.
“I learned it shortly after that double-battle. I leveled up, I believe the term is, to level ‘ten’. I’ve heard that that estimated level is when most of my kind learn Ember.”
“When did you learn about your kind?”
“Shouldn’t you be learning yourself?”
“And trainer gets owned by Pokemon…” said trainer whined, before returning to her feet. “And Ember, I guess.”
“Ah, so she’s still around that age, then, before my Zubat, meaning it’ll have der speed advantage. Anyhoo, I believe yeh might’ve been warned about Flamethrower.”
“Yeah?”
“Use it.”
“What?”
“I says, use the move on der Zubat!”
“Won’t it…kill it though?” Crystal gulped towards her Torchic. Flare rose her sapphire gaze curiously to her.
“Har! Naw. I dun think a baby could kill anyone at such a young age with that move. No, I want yeh to see just how yeh should learn to use der moves. Go on.”
“Okay…Flare, use Flamethrower.”
“Are you sure?” she questioned lightly, as though it was not exactly the most wisest of moves.
“Yes.”
“Alright then…” Before the flames could dance, the man commanded his blue bat.
“Ok, Zubat, use Astonish on der Pokemon. See if yeh can’t git it to flinch.” And the Pokemon seemed to give an ultrasonic screech that she couldn’t understand, and flew forward into the Torchic, rearing back at the last possible second; as the cool wind rushed past the little bird, she gave a startled and instinctive jump back, though she was determined to take action.
With that, the chick breathed in, and suddenly a current of flames rippled and surged towards the Zubat, whom was enclosed in the flames. She finished the flames when she ran out of breath, taking a moment to recuperate herself. The bat had pummeled a few inches, flames dying off his leathery wing tips. Soon he fluttered with his heavy beats, back in position, awaiting a new order.
“Huh?”
“Yeh see, told yeh a little baby still couldn’t do that much. Also, check your Torchic for a sec.” Bemused, her blue gaze fell upon the brightly feathered creature. She seemed to be panting lightly, even though near full health. “Yeh know why she’s exhausted already?”
“No?”
“She’s still learning to master der move. High power moves drain most Pokemon till they have really practiced with der move. Thus, the inexperienced that doesn’t work its way up the ladder of trainin’ is bound to be more tirin’ than der typical low-energy move, like Ember. However, she did seem to really tire my boy out here. He ain’t at his best, yeh know. Always keep der benefits and drawbacks of these powerful moves like this in mind.
“Anyhoos, I’ve already had to fight off a few little nasty blood-suckers from mah arms. Blasted mosquitoes. I think we should head in an’ call it a nigh’, don’t yeh?”
“Yeah,” Crystal nodded, swiping a few away herself, though she was sure she had blood drained from her a few times before he mentioned it.
“Well, I know yeh’s all gonna wanna take off the moment yeh see light tomarra, so I won’t be able to teach yeh much about double battlin’ and combos and der like. That’s more up Kiya’s alley, anyways. Heard she beat Kouta in a match once. She’s a good teach. Never question her words. Oh, and I hope I’ll see yeh again. Hopefully der nonsense at der bridge will clear up and I’ll be able to return home in Sunburst for der Labor Day barbecue, yeh know.” he grinned, showing his stained teeth once more as he slapped his gut. “Der fire pits call meh before der winter sets in!” Crystal, of course, was more surprised that it was already getting so late- she had started at the end of July, after all. This is going to be the first time I’m going to miss out on a family cook out, she sadly thought. There’s not much that can be done about the situation, though. I chose this path for myself. There’s no use looking back upon it and yearning to be back there when I wanted to be away from it so much and on this journey! Still, I miss everyone all the same…
As the man went back inside to tend to the bite marks with some anti-itch cream, Kara and Crystal were handed a key for their room, where they would spend the night without Kiyo by their side. As her feet carried her across the manila tiled floor, realization of the journey struck home for Crystal. Thoughts clouded her ability to sleep as she tossed and turned in her sleeping bag, hugging Dragola and Flare close to her for company and comfort. Flora had settled herself down on a spare bed where the moonlight was pouring in; the bluish light reflected off her glossy leaves. The weed Pokemon merely stared at the Combusken nuzzled up to Kara, probably bored and unable to still change her daily sleep schedule to match that of her trainer’s. Sergeant Pup strolled back and forth near the exit, occasionally pausing, listening, sitting down, before he went back to the rut his paws were causing on the floor. They don’t strike me as the snuggling types much, anyway…
The sleeping Pokemon hardly noticed their master’s predicament, but the girl suddenly felt a longing for Umbree. There was just something about the creature, dark and foreboding as he was rumored to be because of his race, that she felt drawn to. He had acted weirdly in the woods after the events of the Apollo Bridge. He seemed…different, even if she couldn’t explain it. His voice…was I imagining that it changed, too? Or am I just slowly going insane from the constant pressure and fear from Team Missile poisonously wearing me out? Still, I can’t help but feel worried without Kiyo by my side, too. Maybe I’m depending on her more than I would like to now…maybe I should just depend on myself more… All of her thoughts aside, all the girl wanted, as her unpleasant dreams accepted her in against this negative thinking, was to see her father again; she missed him more dearly, having not seen him in years, than any other member of her family.
xD He used Magby like a flamethrower.
Another great chapter as always!
Another great chapter as always!
That's Nail for you...he's known to use Flamethrowers in his normal story, so yeah, I made the Magby a torch. XD
I'll soon be re-writing all these chapters, but yeah, gonna post up until a cliffhanger to be a jerk.
Chapter 15- Hippies are Cool, Man
“Have you completely delved into that fantasy world of yours?! You do know what you’re suggesting, Crystal…” She gazed up, confused at her mother, whom she had awoken at some ridiculously early time of the morning. Cyranea stood there, in heavy night robes not unlike an Eastern gown, and appeared haggard of worry. Even if the mother of four was pleased to see her daughter come back perfectly alive and well from the far-away Sunrise City, she hadn’t received much sleep from anxiety. Wizar, at this time, was grumbling about being awoken, and so were Machoke and Worki. However, Kira, whom was to turn ten in a matter of a week and start on her wild quest, was well awake, with her little raspberry-furred Eevee companion, Asa, by her side. This news was far too interesting to pass up on.
Crystal, however, was more displeased with her mother’s reaction, and calling it a mere image of her vivid imagination. “I’m not lying! Honestly, Mommy, I swear! The Pidgey, it, it gave me this power!” Breeze cooed in concurrent clicks, which sounded much like the plain English the girl had learned of when young. It’s just something I can’t describe! It just…happened. I can just now understand Worki’s mutterings and Machoke’s attempts to throw back comments at the water type, as they get angry…
“Come, now, honey, I’m sure you’re extremely tired and imagining this all. We’re all tired and stressed out. It’s not uncommon not to be thinking these things when you’re so tired like this-” But the little girl’s temper was growing short. I’m not imaging things! I can even hear Breeze’s clicks and coos now as speech that is as frustrated as I am. But can they understand me? Are they going to listen to a seven-year old and her wild Pidgey friend? No. Of course not. I have to prove it to them. Her bright eyes turned to the Eevee, the Wartortle, and Machoke.
“Let me show you, if you don’t believe me!”
“Crystal, it’s late. All of us have to rest, really-”
“Worki!” she shrilly cried out, and the turtle turned grumpily around. “Say something that only you and Mommy would know about!”
“Eh, well, uh…she got three badges before she quit on her Pokemon journey.”
That bluntly astonished the girl. Mommy…was a trainer? The turtle was too busy taking a cup of hot cocoa to wake himself up a little more to notice her startled state, and didn’t seem to believe in her much either. She turned to her mother.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were a trainer?”
Worki suddenly let loose a Water Gun straight into Wizar’s face, nearly dropping his ceramic mug in the process. Cyranea’s eyes grew huge, nearly as large as the little girl’s eyes before her. A sort of silence dropped over the family; Machoke seemed a little shocked herself, and handed a towel to her slightly displeased trainer, though her eyes remained glued on the child. Worki also now eyed the girl, hands shaking a little bit, spilling some of the hot contents onto the floor. Asa was now burying her timid, red form into Kira’s arms, and her to-be trainer seemed more amused and in awe of this than taken seriously aback.
“How…did you know?” the mother whispered in a deadly tone of voice.
“Worki just told me. You heard him, no?”
“He…but he was…only Wartortles from his voice…” she stuttered, then became bold with suspicion. “You haven’t heard any of me and your father’s conversations, have you?”
“No Mommy, of course not.”
“Are you absolutely sure of that?” The shock in her mother’s voice was soon being replaced with rage.
“No, Mommy.”
“That’s the only reasonable explanation for this!” she shrilled.
“Mom, the neighbors…” Kira twirled her hair a bit, tinted with a blue in the blonde, making it appear cyan. Where Kira had gotten those genes for blue hair, it was beyond her mother and father’s knowledge of their family tree.
“Forget about the neighbors! I want to know just what you’ve heard, young lady!”
“Mommy, I told you, I just asked Worki and he told me!” was the whiny reply. Now Cyranea’s normally china-doll face pulsed a dangerous maroon.
“Stop telling these lies!”
“But they aren’t no lies! What will it take for you to believe me?!”
“Crystal,” spoke Machoke, and for the first time, she heard her determined, well tamed voice, though clearly shaken. “There is something that only Wizar knows…he and I know.”
“What is it…?” the girl whispered, and the others looked on wearily. Machoke appeared a little bewildered as well, yet continued, somewhat hesitantly.
“I say this because I think that it’s terrible they don’t trust you…but…” Her scarlet eyes traced around to Worki, whom was staring back, not believing his fluffy ears. “He met Seshiniyro at a construction sight two weeks ago.”
“Seshiniyro?” she questioned. She had never heard that name before.
“Yes…he is your brother. He’s long since left the family, even before you or I were born. They haven’t said his name in years. Only this will convince them, I hope…” she died off, looking to her astonished master, towel still stuck in his hands. The young girl turned to her mother.
“Well? What lie are you dragging up to make us think that you’re telling the truth now?”
“I…” she paused, gazing around, before she gulped, an ominous feeling hitting her hard.
“Machoke told me that Wizar met the brother you never talked about, Seshiniyro, about two weeks ago.”
And that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Her mother flew into an absolute fit of hysteria, teetering on the edge of grief that she had mentioned the disowned brethren’s name, anger that Wizar had not told her of these events, and absolute denial she had heard those words come from her little daughter’s mouth. With so many terribly mixed emotions playing around with her waning sanity and conscious, she eventually raised her hand up high to come down and slap the girl who had started this whole nonsense, but Machoke dragged her away to safety in the nick of time. Worki ran over immediately, trying to tell his long time mistress to calm down. Kira gave a little gasp of surprise, backing away from such violence, and Crystal merely stared. That was…I went too far that time... Cyranea now shook unbelievably hard, and immediately collapsed into a chair, aging hands digging through deep black hair as they quivered violently. Crystal was dragged into the small lamp light they had turned on so as to save their baggy eyes the pain of the kitchen’s florescent tubes.
“it…it just can’t be…me and your father…we haven’t spoke that name…in eight solid years…” It was then she looked up, about to apologize, when she shrieked wildly.
“Crystal, in the name of GOD! What have you done to your hair?!”
“My…hair?” she questioned, but it was clear to see that all were grim, eyes locked on her. She brought forth a strand, but it looked no different to her than before- a bright sort of silver blond, though it was fading away and becoming darker and more gold at all times. “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
“No, your- your BANGS!” Little Crystal then paused. She couldn’t see the bangs in normal light, not without a mirror.
“My…bangs?”
“Yes! Your bangs! How dare you dye them pink! Do you know how dangerous it is to dye your hair?! All of those chemicals seeping into your head!” the adult continued her rather perverse ranting, but this had caught Crystal’s attention now. She dashed headlong to the bathroom nearest that room, switched on the lights, and felt her way up onto the stool, somewhat blinded by the brightness suddenly.
However, she herself had to do a double take, as she saw herself looking back at her present day body, where a dark blue haired woman with those fearful piercing silver eyes glared at her. The figure rose up a knife- Crystal was unable to do anything, utterly paralyzed, and down the shining dagger came.
She was roughly awakened by her own dream, and as that powerful image started to fade away, it was replaced by concerned looks from all around: from her two Pokemon whom had slept with her, by Sergeant Pup, whom had struggled to the top landing defensively, wondering what was going on, Flora, who was cussing something out about getting the one that was to get her in her dream, as well as a concerned Umbree whom now sat on top of her, eyes losing a bluish gleam. Kara and even Kiyo, who more than likely had to hobble on in on one good foot, were also looking alarmed at the young trainer, whom was now taking very slow, deep breaths. She rubbed her cold throat, as her trachea felt raw as though she had just run the mile at her elementary school. Moving on up, she felt her orchid bangs clinging stubbornly to a sweat-drenched forehead. She felt the tingling in her skull, as though a headache was soon to come. Wiping away the sweat, she stared at her companions compassionately. She was glad she was no longer alone, no longer to be hurt.
“Crystal, are you alright?” the black-haired teenager slowly questioned, gazing up at the top bunk.
“Yeah…I…think so. What…happened?”
“You were thrashing and screaming in your sleep, saying ‘they don’t believe me’. We couldn’t get it out of you who it was, but it was really scary…” the brunette muttered.
“Thrashing…?”
“I think you had some sort of really terrifying nightmare,” Dragola started.
“Yes. You kept muttering names. Worki. Seshiniyro.” Flare quietly snuggled up to her trainer in comfort.
“I…” Crystal began, looking at all of them. “I can’t really remember what it was about…till the end.”
“What did you see?” asked Kiyo, but the little trainer was far too upset to even get on that topic. She was shaking. She had clearly seen Kinshayti, Missile Admin, raise up a huge dagger engraved with the letters F.D. upon them. It was really a sickening sight to behold her swinging down as she did, right into her own back, and before she could do anything, she lurched forward, and the unpleasant smell of upchuck was nearly as bad as the tears streaming down her face.
“…we’ve got to get out of here. I think they know we’re here. To…Zenith,” she weakly muttered, still gasping for her breath.
“Naw, dun let them spineless-somethin’-Missiles git yah innu any more trouble, yah hear Kiya? Der ol’ one-two. Hope to see y’all someday at Sunburst,” Nail gave her a pat on the back, and she smirked and wrestled with the man, trying very hard to return the pain with an Indian Sunburn.
Once the general roughhousing was over, Kiyo returned to the lead, gazing at the little Pokemon Center at the edge of Route 58, a small grimace of distaste settling upon her face. Crystal herself felt at dis-ease; she had barely anything to eat at the center, still feeling nauseous from her terrible nightmare. The two elders took note of this, though they were afraid to ask in front of common folk. However, at last, they were on the road once again. There seemed to be an echoing silence, as they continued along a road that was twice in length of Route 47- Route 50. Nothing except their somewhat haggard feet could be heard, along with the rare trainer (which Kiyo mercilessly instructed Crystal to battle against) and wild Pokemon. The road was rather uneventful.
“So…” Kiyo began, and the poor girl’s heart leapt. She knew what was coming, but didn’t want to face it.
“Sew buttons.”
“Say what?”
“Sew buttons. Didn’t you know you’re supposed to say that after someone says ‘so’ and nothing else?” It was clear by her fast tone of voice she was eager to try not to get onto the topic of her dream.
“No. I’ve heard the ‘hay is for horses’ deal, but never that,” the onyx trainer shrugged. “…you know you’re going to have to talk about it sooner or later.” At this, Hikara twinged and silenced herself.
“Crystal, how are we supposed to help when you’re being silent about-”
“Maybe I don’t need help right now!” she retorted angrily. Such was a tone and voice she used sparingly, and only when she was both afraid and nervous. They were taken aback for a moment, and they gazed at one another curiously.
“Was it that bad?”
“It was just a dream from when I was seven. It’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad, my butt. You were thrashing something terrible and muttering things.”
“I’m a restless sleeper.”
“Who is Seshiniyro?” At this, she paused, still somewhat terrified.
“He’s my…brother. I don’t know anything about him except he disowned us and took off a year before I was born.” The fire trainer rose an eyebrow at this, but simply said nothing more.
“Would it be really that difficult to tell us that dream?”
“Like I said, it was just after I got my gift. They just weren’t believing me, that’s all.”
“There was something more, wasn’t there?” she froze at her mentor’s words, and tried desperately hard to block the images.
“… … It was…a dagger.” And, they said nothing more, understanding the terror that she must’ve undergone. Again, the day rolled past, and silence prevailed, before Crystal got up her courage to speak. “Kiyo?”
“Hmm?”
“Can you tell me a little more about your family?” At this she gave a chuckle.
“Ah, sure, why not.” The mismatching eyes soared to the heavens- it was somewhat cloudy that day, though the clouds weren’t threatening rain. “Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt, though I thought I told you a little about Kai’ and Kouta… well, there’s Kaien. He’s the eldest. Immature little git, really. Loves his gizmos and gadgets. He’s done more electronic work than the Power Plant men have over in Kanto, I think. Oh, and he has that crazy purple hair, like I said. Crazy and bird-headed, sorta like him,” she smirked and chuckled. “He’s really sorta the comic relief of the family. Always with a smile on his face. I’ve never really seen him frown. It’s this really…how to say…’holier-than-thou’ smile. It’s really hilarious on this guy. Um…he plays electric guitar or bass, forget which, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a tattoo we never found out about somewhere on his body. That’s a very Kaien thing to do. Oh, and he seems to like lightning types. A lot of lightning types. His Eevee became a Jolteon, as I’ve said before…”
“Wait, Kaien? Why…does that name sound familiar?” Kara noted, deep in thought.
“Eh? He does get around. He was the first of the Dustrens to set out on a quest and decimate the Elite Four and sixteen gym leaders of the Tohjo Regions. He likes to travel, and his name is generally known. Wouldn’t be surprised if you heard about him as a trainer or from Silph- he worked for them for a couple of years,” Kiyo shrugged.
“No, I don’t think it’s that…I can’t for the life of me put my finger on it though…Ah well. Say, where is he now, anyways?”
“Kaien? I dunno. Though he never told me, I would not be at all surprised if he went to Hoenn. It’s one of the closer regions. Closer than Sinnoh, I think. He left me Jolteon as a going away present before he left, which was really selfless of him. He was really close to it. The two things that we really didn’t appreciate about him was that he started the nasty habit of loving his cancer sticks and he hung out with a much older, terrible crowd. It sorta messed him up, I think.
“Anyways, then there’s…Kouta.” Even at the name, she grinned widely. “God, that kid. He’s something else. I haven’t seen him in a while, either. He left right after Kaien did. He was all too quick on his feet to get the sixteen badges in a few short years. I think he went to Sinnoh to deal out some domination. He’s the only one that is distinguishable from the rest of the family. He has bright spring green eyes, and his hair is light blue instead of the normal grayish tint we all ended up getting. He says that he’s serious, but I don’t believe that goof for a second. Well, maybe to other people, but yeah. Not in our household. He really doesn’t specialize in any type. Really diverse team. Kouta had his Eevee evolve into an Espeon. Espy-chan, really. She’s really sort of timid and kind, but she’s…jeez, I would not want to fight her in battle. That Psychic of hers is amazing. Ha, and it’s a good thing he went sober before he left for Sinnoh. I woulda hurt him otherwise. Him and his vodka…it was disgusting, really.
“And then there’s… my other siblings. I really would rather not talk about them yet. They were middle child and second youngest…” Her words faded briefly, and Crystal noted that odd sort of coldness in her eyes once again. It quickly faded away as she thumbed to her chest confidently. “And then there was ME! You know about me, I hope.”
“Sorta. A little.”
“Hah! A little. Know more than most people prolly do, Crystal. My Eevee became Flareon, I dominated Kanto and Johto like my brothers, and then I returned to Beghta on some business. Man, some business I got myself into…” she patted Crystal’s head as she limped along. Of course, the blonde’s temper was rising. “Hahaha.”
After that, nothing more interesting was said. They continued along the path, and called it a day after they reached an intersection with a small route that led west. Briefly in the light of the flickering flames, Mewster pondered near the route’s beginning.
“Say, what’s down that route?”
“Sunburst,” Kiyo automatically responded, poking at a log to turn it over.
“Really?! Cool, we should go and visit your home-”
“We can’t,” she coolly remarked.
“Huh? Why not?” Sadly, the gifted one gazed at the fire trainer, hoping for an answer. With a long sigh, she muttered.
“Kara?”
“Yeah?” Gently she gazed up from her meal preparation.
“Keep watch of the site for a minute.”
“Alright…”
“Come on…” With some sort of cruel tone in her voice, she swiftly walked to the foot of the route and then some. She tapped her leg briefly; Blaze noticed the signal and immediately tottered after her.
“Kiyo! Hey, what’s the rush?”
“Dun like leaving the campsite for long with just Kara there,” she muttered.
“Why? She’s trustworth- agh!” Suddenly frigid temperatures ran over Crystal’s body as she found herself tripping into a deep puddle. The mentor leapt back with only a second’s hesitation. Numbly, the gifted one pulled herself back to the surface. “Ah! Cold! What the?!”
“Yeah, that’s the problem.”
“What’s up with this deep puddle?!”
“Might as well call it a pond. Get out of there, then take a closer look at the situation here…” Shivering as she did what she was told, the young trainer yanked herself out of the terrible icy water. Coughing from the sudden shock, she huddled near the fire type jealously to try and warm herself up. Soon his flame tripled in size, heat shimmering off his body in the dim light of his own tail. Curiously, the girl noted the path’s sudden dip into a wide, dark pond. Boulders set into the path not more than a half-mile away in the middle of the pond- a makeshift barricade. Sheer cliffs towered around the waterborne path, not surprisingly; cliffs were all too commonly high around the wide, long paths the three had already taken.
“…what…?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said when I saw it,” Kiyo buried her face into her head as she shook it gently. “It was a perfectly fine path before…now, though, not only was it flooded deep, but it was blocked off by huge boulders and towering cliffs that aren’t natural to typical nature.” Even in the darkness, Crystal could feel her pupils contract.
“Wait, but that’s…”
“Strangely familiar? Like the one Team Missile probably made near Sunrise on the Eclipse path? Yeah. They do this because they don’t want too much foot traffic between Sunburst and the rest of the world. Their base is so near to it that they just want to cut it off from most. And, for the powerful trainers that do get through…well, I heard they never get to get their eighth badge. Not sure how or why…but it makes me angry. Even I can’t do anything about this mess. The authorities sure can’t. Makes so many people miffed…but to clear this area would be to put several lives in danger, both Pokemon and the Sunburst residents. Sunburst is a…desert sort of town. They don’t need a lot of water in their soil. If they used C4 to blow the rock wall to smithereens, chances are it’d flood the town and cause colossal damage. Team Missile…they thought this out well, the little…” she went off and swore heavily. Crystal didn’t care. She merely moped back to camp to cuddle with the campfire and dry off.
And, once again, they were off on their harrowing adventure after a good eight hours on the sleeping bags. The group was all too eager to get through to Zenith City, and they were not looking forward to clawing their way through the Eclipse Woods once more. Even in the somewhat mountainous area, clawed over by various different ground, normal, and the occasional fire type, there were plenty of trainers about. Some seemed very suspicious, though the three spoke not of any of it. Slowly over the days, rocks faded into brush and hardwoods, and as they reached the peak of their hike, they could see a small sign of the bright and vivid Zenith City out on the horizon. Various dark trees barred their path there, though, and it was clear that the Eclipse Woods weren’t going to be as friendly this time around. Nearly instinctively, a Pokeball released the Poochyena, whom stood extremely attentively by the young trainer’s side. Kiyo and Kara had followed suit, each calling out Flareon and Zaika, whom clearly waited for their orders as they continued along with their journey.
Within an hour, the confines of the forest had revealed themselves to the Motley Crew, even dimmer than before. Kara, noticing as such, slowed, yanking a couple of flashlights out of her bag and handing them to her fellow trainers. The forest was dense, and packed tight with all sorts of bugs and fauna. Trainers spewed from the forest walls more often than the rogue bug attempted to claim a meal from one of the three’s skin.
“An awful lot of trainers for a jungle such as this one…” Kiyo muttered, after helping Crystal clean out a couple whom had challenged them to a double battle.
“There weren’t a quarter of this amount of trainers when I last swept through here…” Kara nodded, her Scyther slowly following along in his deep camouflage. “No doubt they probably ran here in fear of Team Missile when the poor Gym Leader was kicked out of town…”
“Who was the Gym Leader of Zenith before the faux leader came in, anyways?” Crystal questioned, brushing aside some branches in her way. She recently had switched out the tired dog in for the trash-talking weed, who followed with bouncy steps.
“Yeah, uh huh, you’s won’t be liking the next time you be meeting with us, punk! Hoo-boy, that’ll teach to go and get all up in our grill, ain’t that right Code F?” Flora shouted rampantly, bursting with energy, turning to her Flareon friend.
“Sure, yeah.” Flareon somewhat rolled her eyes as they continued along.
“I never really got to really meet her,” Kara brought Crystal back into the English language, piquing her interest, “But they said that she was Iku Aikaze. Fitting as a last name really, especially with her background…”
“Huh?”
“Aikaze- formed from the two kanji for ‘love’ and ‘wind’.” Kiyo nodded to Kara. “Just hearing that name gives me an idea of what kind of Pokemon she would use, even without the known fact that Zenith is typically where bird tamers and Flying types thrive.” At this, Crystal sort of gave an acknowledging ‘oh’ before she faded into her thoughts.
Breeze…how is she doing? Was she caught again somewhere and being held by the horrid Missiles? Was she taken by another trainer? What if she was? Would I be able to get her back, and legally? The trainer only a few month's experience felt savage pangs of remorse. Breeze’s parents had let the bird go on the terms that she was to take the best of care of her. Look at what a great job I’m doing! Their daughter is now nowhere to be found in the local area, nor do I know where I can find her, if I even can... This turned the gifted trainer’s mood even more glum, and she tripped over some hard yet somewhat fleshy material, pulling a rather nasty face plant into the hard earth.
“Crystal! Hey, you ok?” The other two trainers spun around at the sudden ‘umph!’, and bent down to her side.
“I…just wasn’t watching where I was going, that’s all…” she groaned, picking herself slowly up and picking dirt and leaves out of her outfit and hair. There were grumbles from the nearby area, and the trainers’ eyes widened as the dark blue log that their youngest member had tripped over pulled into the bushes with some grumbling.
“Gah, can’t some guy get a little piece in these woods?” The voice was male, and rather annoyed that his nap had been interrupted. There was a yawn, and soon they were able to flash their lights onto this man. He stood at about five foot five, a little shorter than Kiyo, and was definitely characterizable as ‘lanky’. A bit older than Kara he seemed to be with raging red hair. His smile seemed calm and carefree enough, as he tried to fix his hairdo. It was obvious from the set of five Pokemon at his belt that he was a trainer, and a weird one, Crystal decided. He blinked his silver-blue eyes a few times, adjusting to the lighting device the girls carried with them.
“Ah, so sorry. I didn’t see your foot there, sir…” the blonde rashly apologized with a few bows.
“Don’t worry about it. I think I’ve slept for plenty long enough...” he stretched a little, though still most of his body and clothing was hidden under a chestnut cloak. He soon stooped down, picking up a slightly grand, round hat and situated it on his head. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen new faces in these forests. You guys come from Eclipse City or something and decided not to mess with Zenith?”
“No, we’re coming from Apollo Bridge,” answered Kiyo, eyeing the teen somewhat oddly.
“Really? You cleared the bridge of the Missiles?” The fact seemed to wake him up further. “Ah, that’s good…then at least maybe some of the trainers here can safely make it to Hourchime, then.”
“We’re not completely sure that the route has been cleared, but we do know that we somehow managed to get through in mainly one piece,” Kara offered a weak smile, though her companions didn’t follow suit. However, the boy seemed to return the small smirk.
“Well, maybe now that you’ve done it, more people will try, at any rate,” he paused for a moment. “How silly of me, forgetting to mention my name. I’m Etike, though most call me the Wanderer.”
“No way! You’re Etike the Wanderer?” Kiyo gave somewhat of a startled expression.
“Who now?”
“Etike is known for travelling all over the different regions of this world. Supposedly he’s extremely strong, as well.” At this, Etike chuckled.
“Ah, you give me too much credit, er…”
“Kiyo Dustren from Ecruteak.”
“So you’re the famous youngest Dustren that took Johto and Kanto by storm even faster than your brothers,” he widened his eyes with a nod approvingly.
“What? Is Kiyo famous or something?” Mewster gave a small gasp.
“Ah, no, I just hear rumors from all over the place, really,” je grinned. “‘Course, there are tons more trainers that are more popular. Satoshi, Ken, Jimmy, Haruko, Hikari…a few trainers, really, though Satoshi ‘Red’ and Ken ‘Blue’ are most popular, I would say, though Kouta and Kaien are quite making a name for themselves.”
“Wait, you saw Kouta and Kaien somewhere?”
“No, but I’ve heard of them. Sorry to disappoint you, Kiyo.” She seemed to calm down a little, dejected at this news. “Well, at any rate, who are the two you are travelling with?”
“Kara Hikorume. I’ve come to claim my home back from the Missiles in Zenith.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously as her fists clenched. Something on her forehead seemed to twitch lightly.
“That’s sort of bold. A lot of the trainers here have tried the same, you know, and all have failed.” Etike frowned a little, warningly.
“I know…but I ran away before. I want to make a stand and get stronger so I can help protect my family.” The fist clenched even tighter.
“That’s somewhat of an admirable goal, I suppose. You might even be able to clear them out at that.” He paused, eyes falling on Crystal and the babbling Flora next to her. “And you are…?”
“I’m Crystal Hikara, from Dawndew Town.”
“Oh, so you’re her, then.”
“What?” At his ability to notice her as a trainer, she was immediately puzzled.
“Yeah, I’ve heard the rumors that the last Hikara- Hikara is a popular name here in Beghta, what with your brother and sister- child set out on her quest with some weird gift, and that she’s especially hunted by Team Missile. A lot of grunts have been questioning trainers on what they know and have heard through the grapevine here,” he paused awkwardly. “Well, I’m sure you’ll do fine, as long as you don’t intend on heading into Zenith without some strong Pokemon to protect you, just as advice.”
“How bad has Zenith gotten since they took over? Do you know?” Kara suddenly interrogated boldly.
“Eh? Well, to be honest here, I have never been to the city when it was free. I recently went in- yesterday, in fact- and Missiles were crawling over the place. They added a curfew, driven the price up on everything from potions to gasoline, and even turned the local parlors and kid-safe areas into a gambling city. Not to mention the faux gym leader is pathetic…” he suddenly dove under his cloak, pulling out what appeared to be a badge compromised of two wings. However, it was bent and the glass had been cracked, perhaps to test it out. “…as is the fake badges they’re handing out…” he soon thereafter pocketed it.
“Well, I don’t advise going there, but if you are on the road to the High Council, or to visit family that still live there, I give you just a warning- watch your back for the various Missiles in there.” At this, he sort of gave an odd little wave and started off, before he paused, turning around slightly. “…Oh. I nearly forgot…I hope we may all meet again, but for now, I must return to my calling…wandering.” He cracked a small smile, before he disappeared off into the darker woods. Soon after, the sound of wings snapping branches filled and then emptied their ears. Crystal sort of stared in the direction where he left. When she turned to face her friends, though, she gave a surprised cry and soon clung tightly to her eldest friend.
“Eh, what?”
“Th-there…g-g…” she shuddered violently, pointing off in the direction she had seen something in. They gazed absentmindedly, before sweating lightly and nearly laughing at their hysterical friend.
“Camman, you big baby. There’s nothing there,” Kiyo pried the sobbing girl off of her body. “You probably just saw some random Swablu or something.”
“IT WAS NOT A SWABLU! IT WAS A GHOST OR A POISON TH-TH-THING!” She stuttered as she rampantly waved her arms about. Kara paused, starting.
“Well, it wouldn’t be that surprising. I mean, there have been several accounts of appa-” Before she could continue, though, Kiyo hastily reached over with her left hand and covered her mouth.
“Apparatus, like more adventure gear, I’m sure! It wouldn’t be surprising to suddenly see a light or something from Flash adventure gear and have it wind up being just a figment of the mind, isn’t that right, Kara?” she nearly began running her sentences together, though putting particular emphasis on the last of her sentence. She released her hand, and the girl gave a light cough.
“Yeah, right. Of course. Flash gear,” she nodded lightly, before straightening out her shirt, as though Kiyo had roughed that up. “…Well, let’s keep going then, eh?”
“Y-yeah.” The frightened trainer, of course, replied with an automatic phrase, though as they continued along the forest, she never shook the feeling that there was a hundred pair of eyes weighing down upon their group.
“Is…is that light?!” Crystal exclaimed excitedly as she pointed wildly to a small spot on the ground that seemed to be glowing with light from above.
“Ha, yeah, I think it is!” Even the stoic Kiyo grinned. The fire trainer struck the youngest as the type not to like light at all, but even the straining of the eyes to see where they were going was tiring her after being stuck inside the forest for a solid week. Kara was all too eager to kiss the sweet sun’s rays, as well, after they escaped. Before they could proceed to an exhausted and ecstatic dash for light, though, there was a rustle in the bushes. The young teen’s emerald eyes narrowed.
“Zaika. Be ready to attack with your Pursuit if something dashes out.”
“Right,” the differently colored Scyther nodded, and buzzed his wings angrily, ready to fly forward at blinding speed at a moment’s notice. There seemed to be a cry, and suddenly a Grimer oozed out. Zaika wasted no time in dashing forward, nearly glowing with dark energy, ramming into the opponent.
“Hey, whoa dude! Chill oooout! Can’t a guy, like, cross a road in peace without there being unnecessary violence in this wood?” he responded somewhat slowly, as he angrily faced the bug.
“A Grimer, eh? A Muk won’t make for that bad of a companion in the early going till I can find a more suitable partner!” Kara grinned. “Alright, Zaika, use Leer to make its defense lower, and then go in for a Fury Cutter string.” Of course, the scythed Pokemon agreed whole-heartedly, before taking an intimidating sort of glare at the Grimer.
“Man, what’s your beef? Here I am, you know, just chilling in this, like, forest, when a big bug is suddenly like, ‘whoa, you stink! I wanna see if I can’t, like, battle against you for the fun of it’! Man, that is not cool. I’m a peace lover, not a war maker, but if it’s in defense…” The Grimer then shot out a nasty cloud of poison that slowly drifted over to Zaika. He gave a few suppressed coughs, before he fluttered forth at his high speed. There was a slash of the mighty arms, and then another, and another. The Fury Cutter made its mark several times, before the Grimer fought back with a Pound or two. “Dude, what anti-love drugs are you on? Make love, not violence, man.”
“Excellent, Zaika! He looks on the ropes! Now, let’s use that False Swipe of yours to bring it down as much as possible!”
“False Swipe?” Crystal questioned to Kiyo, whom was watching with approval.
“It’s the one and only move few Pokemon can learn that allows them to attack without fear of knocking out the Pokemon. It leaves at least one ‘hit-point’ when you use it, making it perfect for capturing Pokemon, otherwise known as making them on the brink of unconsciousness. Scyther is more than likely one of the few Pokemon that is so well known for being able to use it, though there are others. I know Marowak can learn it by leveling up,” she muttered, glaring at the Grimer. The poison type was soon the victim of the dull end of the bug’s arm slashes. Once it was clear the Pokemon was not becoming any weaker, Kara sought a Great Ball from her satchel, enlargening it as it was withdrawn.
“Ok! You’re mine, Grimer!” With that, she skillfully tossed it.
“Aw, man, that’s not cool. So violent and freedom killing…” the weakened sludge puddle muttered before being sucked in. It only wobbled for a few seconds before the creature had been caught. The medic grinned widely, picking the ball up victoriously.
“And why did you want a Grimer again?” the youngest questioned.
“Ha, well, surprisingly enough, Grimer have some pretty decent attack power, not to mention birds are more easily poisoned than others.”
“I don’t think they are, Kara.” The fire trainer rose an eyebrow.
“I had a friend who once lost a battle because she ran out of Antidotes against a Tentacool that kept using Poison Sting. She had a Pidgey out after her Chikorita was knocked out, but it took the while for the Chikorita to develop poison from the Poison Stings instead of the Pidgey which caught it ridiculously fast,” she explained, somewhat wagging her finger in a matter-of-fact way. “Now, let’s all get to know our new partner, eh?”
“Our new partner that reeks. In all of the legendary Pokemons’ good names, keep it in the ball! The smell is horrid!” Crystal gagged a little, pinching her nose.
“Aw, come on! It’s all in your mind! I’m sure he’ll be a swell-smelling fellow to us after he knocks out some Missiles….” And, without listening any further, the brunette swiftly cast out the Great Ball, and the Sludge Pokemon appeared. He slowly turned around, still tired from his little battle.
“Hey, what’s up, man? Why did you, like, bring me back out to chill on this wild scene?”
“Homey-C, that thing be on some serious pills or something, because he be speaking a language I don’t be understandin’, fo’ rizzle.” Flora kinda hovered around ‘Homey-C’, glaring suspiciously at the poison type. Of course, her trainer’s smile was wide and was going to emit laughter soon.
“And what’s so funny, eh?” Dustren gave her a little nudge.
“So, you know how in the sixties there were tons of hippies and the like?”
“Are you kidding me?” Kara suddenly spun around, green eyes widening.
“Nope, unfortunately. This Grimer? I think he’s a hippie. Keeps talking real slowly and using ‘like’, ‘peace-lover’, ‘man’, and ‘cool’.”
“A lot of people use ‘like’, ‘man’ and ‘cool’, Crystal.”
“Maybe you aren’t catching my drift. This is what he said last, and I quote:” the girl paused, before mocking the voice as best she could, “‘Hey, what’s up, man? Why did you, like, bring me back out to chill on this wild scene?’ I swear on my name as a future good trainer that’s what he said.” By now, the medicine seemed to be fully shot down with the fact that she had caught a peace-loving Grimer that, chances were, was not going to want to battle as she planned. The well-experienced trainer, however, was nearly doubled over in laughter.
“Oh no! You caught a hippie Grimer! And here I was, thinking I’ve heard it all with a ghetto Oddish, a military Poochyena, a Scottish Gyarados, and a mobster Charmeleon! No! A FREAKING HIPPIE GRIMER!” She roared with giggles at the thought. “Oh, man, what a crack team we’ve all put together here! Oh – man. That’s amazing. Wow. I think I’m tearing up from the hilariousness. Wow.”
“Yeah, realllll funny, you two,” the disappointed teen had spitefully yanked out a Super Potion, and taken the time to spray the medicine on. The purple pile of filth smiled widely at the effects of the drug.
“Hey, now that’s some peace-lovin’, my man! Treatin’ me well after that bout of war to heal the wounds.”
“Okay, that purple puddle of trash be startin’ to scare me,” Flora indignantly eyed the creature. “I be an Oddish! Odd! I be the only odd one around here, fo’ shizzle!”
“Well, at any rate, I really think we should continue on towards Zenith. I don’t think it’s that far away now. Oh boy, that was good.” Kiyo swiped away a few of her tears and chuckled under her breath. Flareon looked up curiously at her, wondering if that Grimer had anything to do with the boisterous mirth her trainer was suffering from. “To Zenith!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kara irately recalled the Grimer, shooting nasty glares at her friends, whom were still having difficulty getting over their giggle fits. “I swear, with my luck, I hope I catch a Sandshrew and a Cyndaquil veeeeeeery soon.”
“Not that a Sandshrew would help you in the fight against the Zenith Gym Leader like a Grimer will.” Crystal held her hand to her mouth, suppressing laughter of the grandest kind.
“Bah! ENOUGH YOU TWO!” the medic roared as they continued along.
I'll soon be re-writing all these chapters, but yeah, gonna post up until a cliffhanger to be a jerk.
Chapter 15- Hippies are Cool, Man
“Have you completely delved into that fantasy world of yours?! You do know what you’re suggesting, Crystal…” She gazed up, confused at her mother, whom she had awoken at some ridiculously early time of the morning. Cyranea stood there, in heavy night robes not unlike an Eastern gown, and appeared haggard of worry. Even if the mother of four was pleased to see her daughter come back perfectly alive and well from the far-away Sunrise City, she hadn’t received much sleep from anxiety. Wizar, at this time, was grumbling about being awoken, and so were Machoke and Worki. However, Kira, whom was to turn ten in a matter of a week and start on her wild quest, was well awake, with her little raspberry-furred Eevee companion, Asa, by her side. This news was far too interesting to pass up on.
Crystal, however, was more displeased with her mother’s reaction, and calling it a mere image of her vivid imagination. “I’m not lying! Honestly, Mommy, I swear! The Pidgey, it, it gave me this power!” Breeze cooed in concurrent clicks, which sounded much like the plain English the girl had learned of when young. It’s just something I can’t describe! It just…happened. I can just now understand Worki’s mutterings and Machoke’s attempts to throw back comments at the water type, as they get angry…
“Come, now, honey, I’m sure you’re extremely tired and imagining this all. We’re all tired and stressed out. It’s not uncommon not to be thinking these things when you’re so tired like this-” But the little girl’s temper was growing short. I’m not imaging things! I can even hear Breeze’s clicks and coos now as speech that is as frustrated as I am. But can they understand me? Are they going to listen to a seven-year old and her wild Pidgey friend? No. Of course not. I have to prove it to them. Her bright eyes turned to the Eevee, the Wartortle, and Machoke.
“Let me show you, if you don’t believe me!”
“Crystal, it’s late. All of us have to rest, really-”
“Worki!” she shrilly cried out, and the turtle turned grumpily around. “Say something that only you and Mommy would know about!”
“Eh, well, uh…she got three badges before she quit on her Pokemon journey.”
That bluntly astonished the girl. Mommy…was a trainer? The turtle was too busy taking a cup of hot cocoa to wake himself up a little more to notice her startled state, and didn’t seem to believe in her much either. She turned to her mother.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were a trainer?”
Worki suddenly let loose a Water Gun straight into Wizar’s face, nearly dropping his ceramic mug in the process. Cyranea’s eyes grew huge, nearly as large as the little girl’s eyes before her. A sort of silence dropped over the family; Machoke seemed a little shocked herself, and handed a towel to her slightly displeased trainer, though her eyes remained glued on the child. Worki also now eyed the girl, hands shaking a little bit, spilling some of the hot contents onto the floor. Asa was now burying her timid, red form into Kira’s arms, and her to-be trainer seemed more amused and in awe of this than taken seriously aback.
“How…did you know?” the mother whispered in a deadly tone of voice.
“Worki just told me. You heard him, no?”
“He…but he was…only Wartortles from his voice…” she stuttered, then became bold with suspicion. “You haven’t heard any of me and your father’s conversations, have you?”
“No Mommy, of course not.”
“Are you absolutely sure of that?” The shock in her mother’s voice was soon being replaced with rage.
“No, Mommy.”
“That’s the only reasonable explanation for this!” she shrilled.
“Mom, the neighbors…” Kira twirled her hair a bit, tinted with a blue in the blonde, making it appear cyan. Where Kira had gotten those genes for blue hair, it was beyond her mother and father’s knowledge of their family tree.
“Forget about the neighbors! I want to know just what you’ve heard, young lady!”
“Mommy, I told you, I just asked Worki and he told me!” was the whiny reply. Now Cyranea’s normally china-doll face pulsed a dangerous maroon.
“Stop telling these lies!”
“But they aren’t no lies! What will it take for you to believe me?!”
“Crystal,” spoke Machoke, and for the first time, she heard her determined, well tamed voice, though clearly shaken. “There is something that only Wizar knows…he and I know.”
“What is it…?” the girl whispered, and the others looked on wearily. Machoke appeared a little bewildered as well, yet continued, somewhat hesitantly.
“I say this because I think that it’s terrible they don’t trust you…but…” Her scarlet eyes traced around to Worki, whom was staring back, not believing his fluffy ears. “He met Seshiniyro at a construction sight two weeks ago.”
“Seshiniyro?” she questioned. She had never heard that name before.
“Yes…he is your brother. He’s long since left the family, even before you or I were born. They haven’t said his name in years. Only this will convince them, I hope…” she died off, looking to her astonished master, towel still stuck in his hands. The young girl turned to her mother.
“Well? What lie are you dragging up to make us think that you’re telling the truth now?”
“I…” she paused, gazing around, before she gulped, an ominous feeling hitting her hard.
“Machoke told me that Wizar met the brother you never talked about, Seshiniyro, about two weeks ago.”
And that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Her mother flew into an absolute fit of hysteria, teetering on the edge of grief that she had mentioned the disowned brethren’s name, anger that Wizar had not told her of these events, and absolute denial she had heard those words come from her little daughter’s mouth. With so many terribly mixed emotions playing around with her waning sanity and conscious, she eventually raised her hand up high to come down and slap the girl who had started this whole nonsense, but Machoke dragged her away to safety in the nick of time. Worki ran over immediately, trying to tell his long time mistress to calm down. Kira gave a little gasp of surprise, backing away from such violence, and Crystal merely stared. That was…I went too far that time... Cyranea now shook unbelievably hard, and immediately collapsed into a chair, aging hands digging through deep black hair as they quivered violently. Crystal was dragged into the small lamp light they had turned on so as to save their baggy eyes the pain of the kitchen’s florescent tubes.
“it…it just can’t be…me and your father…we haven’t spoke that name…in eight solid years…” It was then she looked up, about to apologize, when she shrieked wildly.
“Crystal, in the name of GOD! What have you done to your hair?!”
“My…hair?” she questioned, but it was clear to see that all were grim, eyes locked on her. She brought forth a strand, but it looked no different to her than before- a bright sort of silver blond, though it was fading away and becoming darker and more gold at all times. “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
“No, your- your BANGS!” Little Crystal then paused. She couldn’t see the bangs in normal light, not without a mirror.
“My…bangs?”
“Yes! Your bangs! How dare you dye them pink! Do you know how dangerous it is to dye your hair?! All of those chemicals seeping into your head!” the adult continued her rather perverse ranting, but this had caught Crystal’s attention now. She dashed headlong to the bathroom nearest that room, switched on the lights, and felt her way up onto the stool, somewhat blinded by the brightness suddenly.
However, she herself had to do a double take, as she saw herself looking back at her present day body, where a dark blue haired woman with those fearful piercing silver eyes glared at her. The figure rose up a knife- Crystal was unable to do anything, utterly paralyzed, and down the shining dagger came.
She was roughly awakened by her own dream, and as that powerful image started to fade away, it was replaced by concerned looks from all around: from her two Pokemon whom had slept with her, by Sergeant Pup, whom had struggled to the top landing defensively, wondering what was going on, Flora, who was cussing something out about getting the one that was to get her in her dream, as well as a concerned Umbree whom now sat on top of her, eyes losing a bluish gleam. Kara and even Kiyo, who more than likely had to hobble on in on one good foot, were also looking alarmed at the young trainer, whom was now taking very slow, deep breaths. She rubbed her cold throat, as her trachea felt raw as though she had just run the mile at her elementary school. Moving on up, she felt her orchid bangs clinging stubbornly to a sweat-drenched forehead. She felt the tingling in her skull, as though a headache was soon to come. Wiping away the sweat, she stared at her companions compassionately. She was glad she was no longer alone, no longer to be hurt.
“Crystal, are you alright?” the black-haired teenager slowly questioned, gazing up at the top bunk.
“Yeah…I…think so. What…happened?”
“You were thrashing and screaming in your sleep, saying ‘they don’t believe me’. We couldn’t get it out of you who it was, but it was really scary…” the brunette muttered.
“Thrashing…?”
“I think you had some sort of really terrifying nightmare,” Dragola started.
“Yes. You kept muttering names. Worki. Seshiniyro.” Flare quietly snuggled up to her trainer in comfort.
“I…” Crystal began, looking at all of them. “I can’t really remember what it was about…till the end.”
“What did you see?” asked Kiyo, but the little trainer was far too upset to even get on that topic. She was shaking. She had clearly seen Kinshayti, Missile Admin, raise up a huge dagger engraved with the letters F.D. upon them. It was really a sickening sight to behold her swinging down as she did, right into her own back, and before she could do anything, she lurched forward, and the unpleasant smell of upchuck was nearly as bad as the tears streaming down her face.
“…we’ve got to get out of here. I think they know we’re here. To…Zenith,” she weakly muttered, still gasping for her breath.
“Naw, dun let them spineless-somethin’-Missiles git yah innu any more trouble, yah hear Kiya? Der ol’ one-two. Hope to see y’all someday at Sunburst,” Nail gave her a pat on the back, and she smirked and wrestled with the man, trying very hard to return the pain with an Indian Sunburn.
Once the general roughhousing was over, Kiyo returned to the lead, gazing at the little Pokemon Center at the edge of Route 58, a small grimace of distaste settling upon her face. Crystal herself felt at dis-ease; she had barely anything to eat at the center, still feeling nauseous from her terrible nightmare. The two elders took note of this, though they were afraid to ask in front of common folk. However, at last, they were on the road once again. There seemed to be an echoing silence, as they continued along a road that was twice in length of Route 47- Route 50. Nothing except their somewhat haggard feet could be heard, along with the rare trainer (which Kiyo mercilessly instructed Crystal to battle against) and wild Pokemon. The road was rather uneventful.
“So…” Kiyo began, and the poor girl’s heart leapt. She knew what was coming, but didn’t want to face it.
“Sew buttons.”
“Say what?”
“Sew buttons. Didn’t you know you’re supposed to say that after someone says ‘so’ and nothing else?” It was clear by her fast tone of voice she was eager to try not to get onto the topic of her dream.
“No. I’ve heard the ‘hay is for horses’ deal, but never that,” the onyx trainer shrugged. “…you know you’re going to have to talk about it sooner or later.” At this, Hikara twinged and silenced herself.
“Crystal, how are we supposed to help when you’re being silent about-”
“Maybe I don’t need help right now!” she retorted angrily. Such was a tone and voice she used sparingly, and only when she was both afraid and nervous. They were taken aback for a moment, and they gazed at one another curiously.
“Was it that bad?”
“It was just a dream from when I was seven. It’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad, my butt. You were thrashing something terrible and muttering things.”
“I’m a restless sleeper.”
“Who is Seshiniyro?” At this, she paused, still somewhat terrified.
“He’s my…brother. I don’t know anything about him except he disowned us and took off a year before I was born.” The fire trainer rose an eyebrow at this, but simply said nothing more.
“Would it be really that difficult to tell us that dream?”
“Like I said, it was just after I got my gift. They just weren’t believing me, that’s all.”
“There was something more, wasn’t there?” she froze at her mentor’s words, and tried desperately hard to block the images.
“… … It was…a dagger.” And, they said nothing more, understanding the terror that she must’ve undergone. Again, the day rolled past, and silence prevailed, before Crystal got up her courage to speak. “Kiyo?”
“Hmm?”
“Can you tell me a little more about your family?” At this she gave a chuckle.
“Ah, sure, why not.” The mismatching eyes soared to the heavens- it was somewhat cloudy that day, though the clouds weren’t threatening rain. “Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt, though I thought I told you a little about Kai’ and Kouta… well, there’s Kaien. He’s the eldest. Immature little git, really. Loves his gizmos and gadgets. He’s done more electronic work than the Power Plant men have over in Kanto, I think. Oh, and he has that crazy purple hair, like I said. Crazy and bird-headed, sorta like him,” she smirked and chuckled. “He’s really sorta the comic relief of the family. Always with a smile on his face. I’ve never really seen him frown. It’s this really…how to say…’holier-than-thou’ smile. It’s really hilarious on this guy. Um…he plays electric guitar or bass, forget which, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a tattoo we never found out about somewhere on his body. That’s a very Kaien thing to do. Oh, and he seems to like lightning types. A lot of lightning types. His Eevee became a Jolteon, as I’ve said before…”
“Wait, Kaien? Why…does that name sound familiar?” Kara noted, deep in thought.
“Eh? He does get around. He was the first of the Dustrens to set out on a quest and decimate the Elite Four and sixteen gym leaders of the Tohjo Regions. He likes to travel, and his name is generally known. Wouldn’t be surprised if you heard about him as a trainer or from Silph- he worked for them for a couple of years,” Kiyo shrugged.
“No, I don’t think it’s that…I can’t for the life of me put my finger on it though…Ah well. Say, where is he now, anyways?”
“Kaien? I dunno. Though he never told me, I would not be at all surprised if he went to Hoenn. It’s one of the closer regions. Closer than Sinnoh, I think. He left me Jolteon as a going away present before he left, which was really selfless of him. He was really close to it. The two things that we really didn’t appreciate about him was that he started the nasty habit of loving his cancer sticks and he hung out with a much older, terrible crowd. It sorta messed him up, I think.
“Anyways, then there’s…Kouta.” Even at the name, she grinned widely. “God, that kid. He’s something else. I haven’t seen him in a while, either. He left right after Kaien did. He was all too quick on his feet to get the sixteen badges in a few short years. I think he went to Sinnoh to deal out some domination. He’s the only one that is distinguishable from the rest of the family. He has bright spring green eyes, and his hair is light blue instead of the normal grayish tint we all ended up getting. He says that he’s serious, but I don’t believe that goof for a second. Well, maybe to other people, but yeah. Not in our household. He really doesn’t specialize in any type. Really diverse team. Kouta had his Eevee evolve into an Espeon. Espy-chan, really. She’s really sort of timid and kind, but she’s…jeez, I would not want to fight her in battle. That Psychic of hers is amazing. Ha, and it’s a good thing he went sober before he left for Sinnoh. I woulda hurt him otherwise. Him and his vodka…it was disgusting, really.
“And then there’s… my other siblings. I really would rather not talk about them yet. They were middle child and second youngest…” Her words faded briefly, and Crystal noted that odd sort of coldness in her eyes once again. It quickly faded away as she thumbed to her chest confidently. “And then there was ME! You know about me, I hope.”
“Sorta. A little.”
“Hah! A little. Know more than most people prolly do, Crystal. My Eevee became Flareon, I dominated Kanto and Johto like my brothers, and then I returned to Beghta on some business. Man, some business I got myself into…” she patted Crystal’s head as she limped along. Of course, the blonde’s temper was rising. “Hahaha.”
After that, nothing more interesting was said. They continued along the path, and called it a day after they reached an intersection with a small route that led west. Briefly in the light of the flickering flames, Mewster pondered near the route’s beginning.
“Say, what’s down that route?”
“Sunburst,” Kiyo automatically responded, poking at a log to turn it over.
“Really?! Cool, we should go and visit your home-”
“We can’t,” she coolly remarked.
“Huh? Why not?” Sadly, the gifted one gazed at the fire trainer, hoping for an answer. With a long sigh, she muttered.
“Kara?”
“Yeah?” Gently she gazed up from her meal preparation.
“Keep watch of the site for a minute.”
“Alright…”
“Come on…” With some sort of cruel tone in her voice, she swiftly walked to the foot of the route and then some. She tapped her leg briefly; Blaze noticed the signal and immediately tottered after her.
“Kiyo! Hey, what’s the rush?”
“Dun like leaving the campsite for long with just Kara there,” she muttered.
“Why? She’s trustworth- agh!” Suddenly frigid temperatures ran over Crystal’s body as she found herself tripping into a deep puddle. The mentor leapt back with only a second’s hesitation. Numbly, the gifted one pulled herself back to the surface. “Ah! Cold! What the?!”
“Yeah, that’s the problem.”
“What’s up with this deep puddle?!”
“Might as well call it a pond. Get out of there, then take a closer look at the situation here…” Shivering as she did what she was told, the young trainer yanked herself out of the terrible icy water. Coughing from the sudden shock, she huddled near the fire type jealously to try and warm herself up. Soon his flame tripled in size, heat shimmering off his body in the dim light of his own tail. Curiously, the girl noted the path’s sudden dip into a wide, dark pond. Boulders set into the path not more than a half-mile away in the middle of the pond- a makeshift barricade. Sheer cliffs towered around the waterborne path, not surprisingly; cliffs were all too commonly high around the wide, long paths the three had already taken.
“…what…?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said when I saw it,” Kiyo buried her face into her head as she shook it gently. “It was a perfectly fine path before…now, though, not only was it flooded deep, but it was blocked off by huge boulders and towering cliffs that aren’t natural to typical nature.” Even in the darkness, Crystal could feel her pupils contract.
“Wait, but that’s…”
“Strangely familiar? Like the one Team Missile probably made near Sunrise on the Eclipse path? Yeah. They do this because they don’t want too much foot traffic between Sunburst and the rest of the world. Their base is so near to it that they just want to cut it off from most. And, for the powerful trainers that do get through…well, I heard they never get to get their eighth badge. Not sure how or why…but it makes me angry. Even I can’t do anything about this mess. The authorities sure can’t. Makes so many people miffed…but to clear this area would be to put several lives in danger, both Pokemon and the Sunburst residents. Sunburst is a…desert sort of town. They don’t need a lot of water in their soil. If they used C4 to blow the rock wall to smithereens, chances are it’d flood the town and cause colossal damage. Team Missile…they thought this out well, the little…” she went off and swore heavily. Crystal didn’t care. She merely moped back to camp to cuddle with the campfire and dry off.
And, once again, they were off on their harrowing adventure after a good eight hours on the sleeping bags. The group was all too eager to get through to Zenith City, and they were not looking forward to clawing their way through the Eclipse Woods once more. Even in the somewhat mountainous area, clawed over by various different ground, normal, and the occasional fire type, there were plenty of trainers about. Some seemed very suspicious, though the three spoke not of any of it. Slowly over the days, rocks faded into brush and hardwoods, and as they reached the peak of their hike, they could see a small sign of the bright and vivid Zenith City out on the horizon. Various dark trees barred their path there, though, and it was clear that the Eclipse Woods weren’t going to be as friendly this time around. Nearly instinctively, a Pokeball released the Poochyena, whom stood extremely attentively by the young trainer’s side. Kiyo and Kara had followed suit, each calling out Flareon and Zaika, whom clearly waited for their orders as they continued along with their journey.
Within an hour, the confines of the forest had revealed themselves to the Motley Crew, even dimmer than before. Kara, noticing as such, slowed, yanking a couple of flashlights out of her bag and handing them to her fellow trainers. The forest was dense, and packed tight with all sorts of bugs and fauna. Trainers spewed from the forest walls more often than the rogue bug attempted to claim a meal from one of the three’s skin.
“An awful lot of trainers for a jungle such as this one…” Kiyo muttered, after helping Crystal clean out a couple whom had challenged them to a double battle.
“There weren’t a quarter of this amount of trainers when I last swept through here…” Kara nodded, her Scyther slowly following along in his deep camouflage. “No doubt they probably ran here in fear of Team Missile when the poor Gym Leader was kicked out of town…”
“Who was the Gym Leader of Zenith before the faux leader came in, anyways?” Crystal questioned, brushing aside some branches in her way. She recently had switched out the tired dog in for the trash-talking weed, who followed with bouncy steps.
“Yeah, uh huh, you’s won’t be liking the next time you be meeting with us, punk! Hoo-boy, that’ll teach to go and get all up in our grill, ain’t that right Code F?” Flora shouted rampantly, bursting with energy, turning to her Flareon friend.
“Sure, yeah.” Flareon somewhat rolled her eyes as they continued along.
“I never really got to really meet her,” Kara brought Crystal back into the English language, piquing her interest, “But they said that she was Iku Aikaze. Fitting as a last name really, especially with her background…”
“Huh?”
“Aikaze- formed from the two kanji for ‘love’ and ‘wind’.” Kiyo nodded to Kara. “Just hearing that name gives me an idea of what kind of Pokemon she would use, even without the known fact that Zenith is typically where bird tamers and Flying types thrive.” At this, Crystal sort of gave an acknowledging ‘oh’ before she faded into her thoughts.
Breeze…how is she doing? Was she caught again somewhere and being held by the horrid Missiles? Was she taken by another trainer? What if she was? Would I be able to get her back, and legally? The trainer only a few month's experience felt savage pangs of remorse. Breeze’s parents had let the bird go on the terms that she was to take the best of care of her. Look at what a great job I’m doing! Their daughter is now nowhere to be found in the local area, nor do I know where I can find her, if I even can... This turned the gifted trainer’s mood even more glum, and she tripped over some hard yet somewhat fleshy material, pulling a rather nasty face plant into the hard earth.
“Crystal! Hey, you ok?” The other two trainers spun around at the sudden ‘umph!’, and bent down to her side.
“I…just wasn’t watching where I was going, that’s all…” she groaned, picking herself slowly up and picking dirt and leaves out of her outfit and hair. There were grumbles from the nearby area, and the trainers’ eyes widened as the dark blue log that their youngest member had tripped over pulled into the bushes with some grumbling.
“Gah, can’t some guy get a little piece in these woods?” The voice was male, and rather annoyed that his nap had been interrupted. There was a yawn, and soon they were able to flash their lights onto this man. He stood at about five foot five, a little shorter than Kiyo, and was definitely characterizable as ‘lanky’. A bit older than Kara he seemed to be with raging red hair. His smile seemed calm and carefree enough, as he tried to fix his hairdo. It was obvious from the set of five Pokemon at his belt that he was a trainer, and a weird one, Crystal decided. He blinked his silver-blue eyes a few times, adjusting to the lighting device the girls carried with them.
“Ah, so sorry. I didn’t see your foot there, sir…” the blonde rashly apologized with a few bows.
“Don’t worry about it. I think I’ve slept for plenty long enough...” he stretched a little, though still most of his body and clothing was hidden under a chestnut cloak. He soon stooped down, picking up a slightly grand, round hat and situated it on his head. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen new faces in these forests. You guys come from Eclipse City or something and decided not to mess with Zenith?”
“No, we’re coming from Apollo Bridge,” answered Kiyo, eyeing the teen somewhat oddly.
“Really? You cleared the bridge of the Missiles?” The fact seemed to wake him up further. “Ah, that’s good…then at least maybe some of the trainers here can safely make it to Hourchime, then.”
“We’re not completely sure that the route has been cleared, but we do know that we somehow managed to get through in mainly one piece,” Kara offered a weak smile, though her companions didn’t follow suit. However, the boy seemed to return the small smirk.
“Well, maybe now that you’ve done it, more people will try, at any rate,” he paused for a moment. “How silly of me, forgetting to mention my name. I’m Etike, though most call me the Wanderer.”
“No way! You’re Etike the Wanderer?” Kiyo gave somewhat of a startled expression.
“Who now?”
“Etike is known for travelling all over the different regions of this world. Supposedly he’s extremely strong, as well.” At this, Etike chuckled.
“Ah, you give me too much credit, er…”
“Kiyo Dustren from Ecruteak.”
“So you’re the famous youngest Dustren that took Johto and Kanto by storm even faster than your brothers,” he widened his eyes with a nod approvingly.
“What? Is Kiyo famous or something?” Mewster gave a small gasp.
“Ah, no, I just hear rumors from all over the place, really,” je grinned. “‘Course, there are tons more trainers that are more popular. Satoshi, Ken, Jimmy, Haruko, Hikari…a few trainers, really, though Satoshi ‘Red’ and Ken ‘Blue’ are most popular, I would say, though Kouta and Kaien are quite making a name for themselves.”
“Wait, you saw Kouta and Kaien somewhere?”
“No, but I’ve heard of them. Sorry to disappoint you, Kiyo.” She seemed to calm down a little, dejected at this news. “Well, at any rate, who are the two you are travelling with?”
“Kara Hikorume. I’ve come to claim my home back from the Missiles in Zenith.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously as her fists clenched. Something on her forehead seemed to twitch lightly.
“That’s sort of bold. A lot of the trainers here have tried the same, you know, and all have failed.” Etike frowned a little, warningly.
“I know…but I ran away before. I want to make a stand and get stronger so I can help protect my family.” The fist clenched even tighter.
“That’s somewhat of an admirable goal, I suppose. You might even be able to clear them out at that.” He paused, eyes falling on Crystal and the babbling Flora next to her. “And you are…?”
“I’m Crystal Hikara, from Dawndew Town.”
“Oh, so you’re her, then.”
“What?” At his ability to notice her as a trainer, she was immediately puzzled.
“Yeah, I’ve heard the rumors that the last Hikara- Hikara is a popular name here in Beghta, what with your brother and sister- child set out on her quest with some weird gift, and that she’s especially hunted by Team Missile. A lot of grunts have been questioning trainers on what they know and have heard through the grapevine here,” he paused awkwardly. “Well, I’m sure you’ll do fine, as long as you don’t intend on heading into Zenith without some strong Pokemon to protect you, just as advice.”
“How bad has Zenith gotten since they took over? Do you know?” Kara suddenly interrogated boldly.
“Eh? Well, to be honest here, I have never been to the city when it was free. I recently went in- yesterday, in fact- and Missiles were crawling over the place. They added a curfew, driven the price up on everything from potions to gasoline, and even turned the local parlors and kid-safe areas into a gambling city. Not to mention the faux gym leader is pathetic…” he suddenly dove under his cloak, pulling out what appeared to be a badge compromised of two wings. However, it was bent and the glass had been cracked, perhaps to test it out. “…as is the fake badges they’re handing out…” he soon thereafter pocketed it.
“Well, I don’t advise going there, but if you are on the road to the High Council, or to visit family that still live there, I give you just a warning- watch your back for the various Missiles in there.” At this, he sort of gave an odd little wave and started off, before he paused, turning around slightly. “…Oh. I nearly forgot…I hope we may all meet again, but for now, I must return to my calling…wandering.” He cracked a small smile, before he disappeared off into the darker woods. Soon after, the sound of wings snapping branches filled and then emptied their ears. Crystal sort of stared in the direction where he left. When she turned to face her friends, though, she gave a surprised cry and soon clung tightly to her eldest friend.
“Eh, what?”
“Th-there…g-g…” she shuddered violently, pointing off in the direction she had seen something in. They gazed absentmindedly, before sweating lightly and nearly laughing at their hysterical friend.
“Camman, you big baby. There’s nothing there,” Kiyo pried the sobbing girl off of her body. “You probably just saw some random Swablu or something.”
“IT WAS NOT A SWABLU! IT WAS A GHOST OR A POISON TH-TH-THING!” She stuttered as she rampantly waved her arms about. Kara paused, starting.
“Well, it wouldn’t be that surprising. I mean, there have been several accounts of appa-” Before she could continue, though, Kiyo hastily reached over with her left hand and covered her mouth.
“Apparatus, like more adventure gear, I’m sure! It wouldn’t be surprising to suddenly see a light or something from Flash adventure gear and have it wind up being just a figment of the mind, isn’t that right, Kara?” she nearly began running her sentences together, though putting particular emphasis on the last of her sentence. She released her hand, and the girl gave a light cough.
“Yeah, right. Of course. Flash gear,” she nodded lightly, before straightening out her shirt, as though Kiyo had roughed that up. “…Well, let’s keep going then, eh?”
“Y-yeah.” The frightened trainer, of course, replied with an automatic phrase, though as they continued along the forest, she never shook the feeling that there was a hundred pair of eyes weighing down upon their group.
“Is…is that light?!” Crystal exclaimed excitedly as she pointed wildly to a small spot on the ground that seemed to be glowing with light from above.
“Ha, yeah, I think it is!” Even the stoic Kiyo grinned. The fire trainer struck the youngest as the type not to like light at all, but even the straining of the eyes to see where they were going was tiring her after being stuck inside the forest for a solid week. Kara was all too eager to kiss the sweet sun’s rays, as well, after they escaped. Before they could proceed to an exhausted and ecstatic dash for light, though, there was a rustle in the bushes. The young teen’s emerald eyes narrowed.
“Zaika. Be ready to attack with your Pursuit if something dashes out.”
“Right,” the differently colored Scyther nodded, and buzzed his wings angrily, ready to fly forward at blinding speed at a moment’s notice. There seemed to be a cry, and suddenly a Grimer oozed out. Zaika wasted no time in dashing forward, nearly glowing with dark energy, ramming into the opponent.
“Hey, whoa dude! Chill oooout! Can’t a guy, like, cross a road in peace without there being unnecessary violence in this wood?” he responded somewhat slowly, as he angrily faced the bug.
“A Grimer, eh? A Muk won’t make for that bad of a companion in the early going till I can find a more suitable partner!” Kara grinned. “Alright, Zaika, use Leer to make its defense lower, and then go in for a Fury Cutter string.” Of course, the scythed Pokemon agreed whole-heartedly, before taking an intimidating sort of glare at the Grimer.
“Man, what’s your beef? Here I am, you know, just chilling in this, like, forest, when a big bug is suddenly like, ‘whoa, you stink! I wanna see if I can’t, like, battle against you for the fun of it’! Man, that is not cool. I’m a peace lover, not a war maker, but if it’s in defense…” The Grimer then shot out a nasty cloud of poison that slowly drifted over to Zaika. He gave a few suppressed coughs, before he fluttered forth at his high speed. There was a slash of the mighty arms, and then another, and another. The Fury Cutter made its mark several times, before the Grimer fought back with a Pound or two. “Dude, what anti-love drugs are you on? Make love, not violence, man.”
“Excellent, Zaika! He looks on the ropes! Now, let’s use that False Swipe of yours to bring it down as much as possible!”
“False Swipe?” Crystal questioned to Kiyo, whom was watching with approval.
“It’s the one and only move few Pokemon can learn that allows them to attack without fear of knocking out the Pokemon. It leaves at least one ‘hit-point’ when you use it, making it perfect for capturing Pokemon, otherwise known as making them on the brink of unconsciousness. Scyther is more than likely one of the few Pokemon that is so well known for being able to use it, though there are others. I know Marowak can learn it by leveling up,” she muttered, glaring at the Grimer. The poison type was soon the victim of the dull end of the bug’s arm slashes. Once it was clear the Pokemon was not becoming any weaker, Kara sought a Great Ball from her satchel, enlargening it as it was withdrawn.
“Ok! You’re mine, Grimer!” With that, she skillfully tossed it.
“Aw, man, that’s not cool. So violent and freedom killing…” the weakened sludge puddle muttered before being sucked in. It only wobbled for a few seconds before the creature had been caught. The medic grinned widely, picking the ball up victoriously.
“And why did you want a Grimer again?” the youngest questioned.
“Ha, well, surprisingly enough, Grimer have some pretty decent attack power, not to mention birds are more easily poisoned than others.”
“I don’t think they are, Kara.” The fire trainer rose an eyebrow.
“I had a friend who once lost a battle because she ran out of Antidotes against a Tentacool that kept using Poison Sting. She had a Pidgey out after her Chikorita was knocked out, but it took the while for the Chikorita to develop poison from the Poison Stings instead of the Pidgey which caught it ridiculously fast,” she explained, somewhat wagging her finger in a matter-of-fact way. “Now, let’s all get to know our new partner, eh?”
“Our new partner that reeks. In all of the legendary Pokemons’ good names, keep it in the ball! The smell is horrid!” Crystal gagged a little, pinching her nose.
“Aw, come on! It’s all in your mind! I’m sure he’ll be a swell-smelling fellow to us after he knocks out some Missiles….” And, without listening any further, the brunette swiftly cast out the Great Ball, and the Sludge Pokemon appeared. He slowly turned around, still tired from his little battle.
“Hey, what’s up, man? Why did you, like, bring me back out to chill on this wild scene?”
“Homey-C, that thing be on some serious pills or something, because he be speaking a language I don’t be understandin’, fo’ rizzle.” Flora kinda hovered around ‘Homey-C’, glaring suspiciously at the poison type. Of course, her trainer’s smile was wide and was going to emit laughter soon.
“And what’s so funny, eh?” Dustren gave her a little nudge.
“So, you know how in the sixties there were tons of hippies and the like?”
“Are you kidding me?” Kara suddenly spun around, green eyes widening.
“Nope, unfortunately. This Grimer? I think he’s a hippie. Keeps talking real slowly and using ‘like’, ‘peace-lover’, ‘man’, and ‘cool’.”
“A lot of people use ‘like’, ‘man’ and ‘cool’, Crystal.”
“Maybe you aren’t catching my drift. This is what he said last, and I quote:” the girl paused, before mocking the voice as best she could, “‘Hey, what’s up, man? Why did you, like, bring me back out to chill on this wild scene?’ I swear on my name as a future good trainer that’s what he said.” By now, the medicine seemed to be fully shot down with the fact that she had caught a peace-loving Grimer that, chances were, was not going to want to battle as she planned. The well-experienced trainer, however, was nearly doubled over in laughter.
“Oh no! You caught a hippie Grimer! And here I was, thinking I’ve heard it all with a ghetto Oddish, a military Poochyena, a Scottish Gyarados, and a mobster Charmeleon! No! A FREAKING HIPPIE GRIMER!” She roared with giggles at the thought. “Oh, man, what a crack team we’ve all put together here! Oh – man. That’s amazing. Wow. I think I’m tearing up from the hilariousness. Wow.”
“Yeah, realllll funny, you two,” the disappointed teen had spitefully yanked out a Super Potion, and taken the time to spray the medicine on. The purple pile of filth smiled widely at the effects of the drug.
“Hey, now that’s some peace-lovin’, my man! Treatin’ me well after that bout of war to heal the wounds.”
“Okay, that purple puddle of trash be startin’ to scare me,” Flora indignantly eyed the creature. “I be an Oddish! Odd! I be the only odd one around here, fo’ shizzle!”
“Well, at any rate, I really think we should continue on towards Zenith. I don’t think it’s that far away now. Oh boy, that was good.” Kiyo swiped away a few of her tears and chuckled under her breath. Flareon looked up curiously at her, wondering if that Grimer had anything to do with the boisterous mirth her trainer was suffering from. “To Zenith!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kara irately recalled the Grimer, shooting nasty glares at her friends, whom were still having difficulty getting over their giggle fits. “I swear, with my luck, I hope I catch a Sandshrew and a Cyndaquil veeeeeeery soon.”
“Not that a Sandshrew would help you in the fight against the Zenith Gym Leader like a Grimer will.” Crystal held her hand to her mouth, suppressing laughter of the grandest kind.
“Bah! ENOUGH YOU TWO!” the medic roared as they continued along.
- Status