Heidi caught up with three of the girls on the road ahead, Yani flying above her as usual after she released her from her Pokéball. She remembered Erika, but the other two she hadn't asked their names, though Erika seemed to have thought the same as the dark skinned girl answered her. Robyn was her name and it seemed the other girl's name was Alix. Good to know that. Robyn released a Swablu from a Pokéball of hers, who looked just terrible. She asked the others for a Potion. While Heidi only had three left herself, she could part with one.
She looked through her backpack for a Potion and found one. She walked over to Robyn and handed it to her. "Here you go. Consider it a gift from a new friend. The name's Heidi." She stepped a bit back, Yani hovering above her head while watching the injured Swablu.
Robyn was looking to Erika and Alix for medicine, but before either one could offer her one, another girl from Willow's Laboratory handed her a Potion.
"Here you go. Consider it a gift from a new friend. The name's Heidi."
"Thank you so much!" Robyn replied.
Taking the medicine, Robyn bent down and sprayed onto the injured Flying Pokemon. It must have been a very powerful Potion, or the Pokemon very weak, because the Swablu immediately perked up. The Pokemon got back onto its feet and hopped around, unsure of how it ended up on a road surrounded by humans. It looked up at the source of the spray, the one who must have captured it. "Bluuuu? Bluuuuuublu?"
"Well you're looking a lot better now," Robyn remarked as her newest team member kept looking around. She called the Pokemon back to the ball and once safe inside, returned the ball to her sweatshirt pocket. "Thanks again, I was a bit worried my Sentret had done too much to it. I caught it when it took a big fall out of a tree."
"I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier before Kayla called us in to meet Professor Willow. I'm Erika from Johto. What are your names and where are you from?"
Alix looked over as Erika waved and introduced herself, letting Robyn take care of the basic introductions. "Robyn is correct. I'm Alix, and I came from Hoenn," she clarified before the darker-skinned Trainer put forth her request for a Potion. Robyn had found herself a Swablu. Alix had just the thing. Before she reached around to a pocket of her pack, she dug out Matti's Poké Ball and called him back into the device. She wanted a little face-to-face time with her new catch.
She dug two of the small purple spray-bottles out of her pack... and would have handed one to Robyn had another newcomer, Heidi, not offered one herself. "Could have covered that. But then, I need one for myself." With that, Alix stuffed one Potion back into her pack and let out the Poochyena she had caught. The Dark-type coalesced into being facing her Trainer, eyes narrowed. "Grrrrr... Yen! Yen!" she... barked? 'Barked' seemed to be the best word for it. They were doglike, after all. Alix knelt down in front of the Pokémon, and tentatively reached out a hand to her.
"Chyen!" The Poochyena bumped her nose against Alix's outstretched fingers, and allowed her to scratch behind one ear. She seemed to relax a bit, though Alix still took note of her upwards-pointing fangs. "Hey there... how are you feeling?" she asked. She got a little bit of a whine in response.
"Oh, right, you took a couple of hits before I caught you. Of course. Just hold still now," she told her Pokémon before holding up the Potion in her other hand. Alix quickly applied a couple of pumps of the spray onto the Poochyena's fur, where she remembered Matti hitting her. She didn't see any obvious signs of damage, though. The Pokémon seemed to perk up a little as the Potion was applied. Once the spraying stopped, she jumped up and ran around for a second before she came back to Alix.
"Aww. So cute," the Trainer commented. "You, missie, need a name. So what shall I call you?" The name had to be different enough from Matti's name, so they wouldn't get confused. Fang? No, Fang was a name for a male Poochyena. And even then it was clichéd. Thalia? No... too formal. Stana? Stana sounded good.
"What do you think of Stana?" she queried of the Poochyena, who sat up and yapped again. "Chee-yen!" Stana sounded pleased with her new name. Alix smiled a little, standing back up.
Just then, loud beating of wings could be heard above the four girls. Alix looked up to see Kayla and her Pidgeot again. "You're all taking your sweet time, aren't you?" she called down. "Looks like most of you split up to catch something individually. I see. At any rate, you girls should get going. I'll round up the rest of your group and see you at the bridge." With that she flew off, presumably to look for the others.
"Probably wants us out of her hair sooner rather than later," Alix quipped. "So... the bridge is that way. Might as well keep moving," she suggested, taking the lead with Stana following at her heels.
[hr]
Within ten minutes everyone was assembled at the bridge's foot-traffic entrance. Kayla touched down just as the last couple of stragglers were rejoining the group of eleven. "Alright, this is where I'll leave you. Lazuli Town isn't far from the bridge's exit, and there's a road to the lake from there. So good luck to all of you, and maybe we'll meet again somewhere."
The older Trainer jumped back onto her bird Pokémon and took to the skies once more, quickly heading back in the direction of Aquamar City. The journey over the bridge to the mainland was an uneventful one. The bridge was of more or less standard design: pedestrians and bicyclists walked or rode above the constant vehicular traffic.
Once the Trainers stepped off of the bridge and back out onto another path, crossing a road as they did so, they were on the outskirts of Lazuli Town. Surrounded by woodland, the red roof of the town's Pokémon Center stuck out like a sore thumb.
"Okay, so... shall we just visit the Pokémon Center to heal up?" Alix suggested. "Unless people have other things they want to do before we move on, of course." She hoped they wouldn't take too long, though: she wanted to see what the lake had to offer. Kayla had mentioned Water-type Pokémon... having one on the team could be extremely helpful against Barrett, their first challenge in the Pokémon League.
Eurydice didn't bother chasing the Berry trainer. He was taller, and looked preoccupied with something, so he easily outpaced her anyway. Before she could turn and take another run through the tall grass, a large shadow passed overhead.
"Come on, people, get a move on. You don't wanna spend the whole morning on the first route, do you?"
It was that professor's daughter. Realizing they might have spent too much time on Route 1, Eurydice hopped on Ponyta and slapped its rump with a grin. The Ponyta, on the other hand, turned and snorted at her. Eurydice pouted in apology, and the filly took off.
The ride across the bridge was lovely. There weren't a whole lot of bridges in Kanto, and definitely none as big. Eurydice was content to sit still for the ride across, just observing the cars that passed below. This bridge was convinient, for both people and Pokemon.
When they got to the other side of the bridge, one of the trainers suggested taking a Pokemon Center break. Pokemon Center quickly popped up on her whiteboard, and she took off towards it. She didn't want anyone who wasn't going to be waiting too long, and also didn't want to be the last one to the lake. She wouldn't have gone at all if it hadn't been for the fact that she needed the Budew in tip top condition for the Route. If there were as many water Pokemon as she thought, she wouldn't be able to use her Ponyta too much at all.
Inside, Eurydice took a moment to marvel at the ingenuity of having the Pokemon Center and the Pokemart combined. Why didn't they do this in Kanto? The line moved quickly, and soon she found herself face to face with... a familiar Nurse.
"Hello, and welcome to our Pokemon Center! We restore your tired Pokemon to full health." I wonder if there's any Nurses who AREN'T part of the Joy family... She gave her the Budew's pokeball, smiling.
"Okay, I'll take your Pokemon for a few seconds!"
She almost forgot to return the Ponyta to her ball, fumbling to hand it to the Nurse along with her Budew. She stood off to the side as the Nurse took her Pokemon to the large machine. She felt a little nervous with her Ponyta in someone else's hands, but went ahead and just waited.
"We've restored your Pokemon to full health. We hope to see you again!" Eurydice bowed a thank you, quickly releasing her Ponyta. It snorted, a little miffed at being stuffed in the ball. After a little thought, she released the Budew as well. She picked it up and put it on her Ponyta to make sure it wouldn't run off, and made a quick stop at the Pokemart counter. 3 Paralyze Heals
5 Antidotes
Please
As the group crossed the bridge, Russel took a quick glance over, then turned right back. "Yeesh... at least this is the last bridge we'll be crossing for a while..." he said, walking as close to the center of the bridge as he could.
Once they arrived on the other side, he started heading into town. "Oi... you feeling good to go, Munchie?" he said, turning to the little green blob. Munchie nodded, the rest and food making him near 100%. "Ok. We'll check around the town after we're done at the lake. There oughta be a lot of good Pokemon around there. Plus a good chance to take a couple pictures. Maybe do some fishing..." he started listing off a bunch of random things they could do to Munchie, who worked his way back up to Russel's shoulder.
The town was small, nowhere near as bustling as Aquamar, but Russel liked these kind of towns. Not nearly as crowded as places like Lilycove or Slateport. "Oi... wonder if they got a shop for berries around here. I know there's a forest nearby, so this is one of the better locations..." Munchie nudged Russel, poking his cheek. Guuulp. "Right, right. Acting too much like we're back at work. Just focus on the lake."
It'd been quite the walk over the bridge, but Heidi could handle it. She'd gone over bridges before, since there was at least one in Sinnoh, even if it was more like a downward slope for bicycle riding people. Yani flew all across the place, never going too far away from Heidi. George and Eve were still in their Pokéballs. She'd need to heal up the three of them, and found where it was after the Kayla talked to them. She wondered briefly if she should get a Water type on her team as well, but she doubted there were any double types there, so she figured she might as well try her luck with the three she already had.
Noticing Eurydice quickly going to the Pokécenter, she followed shortly thereafter. She was right behind someone who was behind Eurydice in line, and giggled at her fumbling to get Ponyta in her ball. Once she and the person in front of Heidi were done, it was her turn. "Welcome to the Pokémon Center. We restore your tired Pokémon to full health." Heidi quickly remembered to return Yani to her Safari Ball, doing so, then handing the three balls to the nurse. "It may take a while, so why don't you check the shop in the meanwhile? We'll let you know when they're ready." Looking back, Heidi noticed the shop. And Eurydice inside it. "I'll do that. Thanks."
She left the line for the Center and headed over to the Mart. She patted Eurydice's shoulder and smiled to her. "Doing alright, kiddo?" she said to her before looking over what the Mart had. The clerk there was taking care of Eurydice's order, so Heidi waited a bit. Amongst the healing items there, she noticed some other items that a Mart back home in Sinnoh wouldn't have. Such as a belt to keep Pokéballs on, which intrigued her. "How much for that belt?" she asked the clerk there when she saw that she'd taken care of what Eurydice had asked for and payed. "P$100" She thought it over for a second, then decided. "I'll take one. Along with three Potions." All three items were put on the counter. "That'll be P$1000." Heidi handed over her card which was slid into the card reader. It was accepted, and Heidi put the belt onto her waist after she put her card in her wallet. The Potions were put with the other Potions in her backpack. "Thanks you." she said to the clerk, then turned to Eurydice. "Having fun so far?" she asked her.
Robyn glanced over the town that was laid out before them. It was underwhelming to say the least. I think there are more people on my street then in this place. Holy small.
"Okay, so... shall we just visit the Pokémon Center to heal up?"
Robyn nodded. "Yeah, might as well." So I used that Potion for nothing then. Good thing it wasn't mine.
Eurydice nodded enthusiastically, running over to her Ponyta. She plucked the Budew off of its back and shoved it into Heidi's face, figuratively, proud of her catch. If she could get a few water pokemon, her team would be ready to face the gym leader!
She momentarily forgot what she had bought, which was sitting on the counter. She placed the Budew on the counter and took off her bag, starting to put the canisters inside. "Dew? Budew?" The Budew looked around from its new vantage point, and at the two girls, and at the Ponyta.
The Ponyta was a little jealous of this new pokemon. It was not very strong at all. It was grass. She ate grass. What did her trainer see in the little pokemon? Was it because it was small, and smelled nice? Was it because it was cute? She could be cute too.
A yell made Eurydice spin around to face her Ponyta. The excited pokemon had started stotting, then prancing a little. It wouldn't have been so bad, except it was a Ponyta. The pokemon with hooves stronger than diamonds. Kicking them around. Trying not to get her more agitated, Eurydice ran up and tried to grab her reins. Giving an apologetic and embarassed look to everyone, she tried to pull her out of the Pokemon Center. "Budew!" The Budew started reaching for Heidi, clearly preferring being carried to her trainer rather than having to jump down and walk.
Heidi giggled at how enthusiastic Eurydice seemed over having apparently caught a Budew. Heidi had seen more than enough of them back in Sinnoh, so she didn't get how it was apparently so special to her, but it didn't matter to her really. If Eurydice wanted a Budew, that was her choice. A poor choice, but her choice nonetheless.
When Eurydice had to go take care of her Ponyta, Heidi heard Budew call for her and she looked towards her to see her reach for Heidi. She admitted, even if she wasn't much for Budew, that was cute. "Oh, alright, I'll carry you to your trainer." She reached for the Budew and picked her up, then started to walk over to Eurydice.
Though, she was interrupted as her name was called up by the Pokécenter. She didn't want to leave the Budew alone, so she carried her over to the Center. "Your Pokémon are ready, miss." the nurse said when she got over to the counter. "Thank you." Heidi said, putting the Budew onto the table while she put George and Eve's Pokéballs onto her new belt. She let Yani out of her Safari Ball, then put the ball onto her belt.
Yani flew around, curious about the Budew that Heidi had there. Heidi picked up the Budew and noticed Yani curious about her. "She's Eurydice's Pokémon. I didn't catch a Pokémon while you were getting a healing rest." She giggled and walked outside over to Eurydice, the Budew secure in her arms. "We hope to see you again!" the nurse said to Heidi on her way out.
"Alright... come on, Stana," Alix told the Pokémon sitting at her feet. She seemed comfortable away from her previous home. The Poochyena promptly jumped up and followed her as she led the way to the Pokémon Center. Figuratively speaking, of course: Heidi and the younger girl with the Ponyta had already gone ahead.
Alix was surprised to find that just inside the Pokémon Center was a hall just off to the right of the doors, that looked very similar to a Poké Mart. She would investigate that in a bit. Her first priority was getting Matti checked to see if he was okay. She wanted to be sure of his well-being, and Stana would likely be fine with just a Potion. Once at the counter, Alix quickly handed over Matti's Poké Ball, leaving her name with the Nurse Joy in charge.
"Thanks. It'll take a little time to restore your Pokémon," the Nurse explained with a smile. Alix stepped away from the counter, taking a seat nearby. Once she sat down, Stana whined at her, pawing at one shoe. "Hey... what's the problem, Stana?" Alix asked, reaching down to give the Dark-type another scratch.
A small gurgle from Stana answered her. It sounded like the Poochyena was hungry. "Seriously? You had that berry back before the battle... Alright, let's see what the Poké Mart's got in terms of food," Alix suggested. Stana's ears perked up, and she began running over to the Poké Mart-looking place back near the Center's entrance before her Trainer could even get up.
Note to Self: Stana might be about as excitable as Matti, Alix thought as she got up and proceeded to follow her Pokémon. When it comes to food, at least.
Robyn filed in right behind Alix and stepped up to the attendant at the counter...who looked suspiciously familiar.
"Here, can I have my three looked after as well?" she asked as she handed her Pokemon over to the Nurse Joy. "Just at the same time."
"Of course," the nurse nodded. "We'll call you over when they are ready."
Robyn nodded back and took a seat along the side, popping in her headphones. A mash-up or two should pass enough time until her Pokemon were ready to go.
Erika had started to slide off her bag for a potion, but Heidi had shown up and beaten her to the punch. Erika gave a light shrug as Alix was in the action to offer one as well. A moment later and Kayla was flying overhead with her Pidgeot and told them to move along to the next town. Erika reset he bag on her back and took off after Alix. ?One day you?ll be like that Aerial,? Erika said to the Tiny Bird Pokémon on her shoulder.
The walk across the bridge was pretty silent and people started to speed up and slow down to their own accord. Erika herself was lagging behind while trying to get Breña to stop biting every new thing that she saw. It took a few tries, but eventually Breña started to listen to Erika tell her not to. Finally the walk across the bridge was over and Erika returned her Pokémon as they entered Lazuli Town.
?My girls are a bit beat up. I should probably get them healed up,? Erika thought to herself as she went to the same location as pretty much everyone else. The members of the group from Willow?s Lab had helped make a bit of a line up, but eventually Erika had gotten to the front of the line and handed the Nurse Joy her Poké Balls. ?We?ll start healing your Pokémon momentarily; we?ll call your name when we are finished.? ?Thank you.?
Well I should probably see if I can find a ball for Breña in the Pokémart. I might want something to identify my Pokéballs as well. I can?t exactly tell the difference between Aerial?s and Breña?s. Burtha?s is easy to tell though, no mistaking that worn ball to the new ones.
Erika entered the Pokémart behind Alix and her Poochyena; the Bite Pokémon was darting for the Pokémon food. Erika went around to another isle and grabbed a cheap rubber blue ball and a complete set of child?s stickers that contained all of the Pokémon in the region. As Erika was about head up to the cashier she saw Alix looking over all of the different available foods as if she was looking for a specific one. Maybe I should get some as well.
Erika walked over beside Alix and started to look at all of different available foods they had to offer. So many different types. How am I supposed to know what would be best?? Erika looked over at Alix again and the woman appeared to be looking for a specific type. ?You won?t happen to know any good types of Pokémon food to get? I?ve never had to buy any before and I?m a bit lost as to what to buy.?
Morgan's own tromp through the woods was short lived, as he and Spike looked towards the clouds, and saw Kayla Willow and her Pidgeot soaring overhead. Apparently it was time to move on to the next area.
"If I knew there was a time limit, I would've made more of an effort at catching rather than battling." He mumbled defensively. He did make a mental note of those past battles. The curious Bite Pokémon that lingered not too far ahead of him had already become fairly loyal to Morgan's words and actions, and was seemingly very eager to battle. When compared to his starter, this Poochyena was a godsend. Morgan called for it, and it happily trotted back to him. Morgan heard distant rustling along with various voices, a sign that the trainers he's met were somewhere near by.
"C'mon Spike, looks like it's time for us to head into the city." He said, beginning in the direction of the familiar voices.
"Chyen!" The Poochyena yapped in reply, fast on Morgan's heels. As the two entered the clear, the Willow and her giant bird began to land. With some haste, she mentioned the area ahead, Lazuli Town, with it being just beyond the bridge Morgan and his merry troupe of trainers stood at. Before long, she said a few words of encouragement, and took off just as quick as she landed. As soon as she vanished from view, Morgan briefly opted going back into the woods in a fit of childish spite. He decided against it the thought, more eager to see this new town than wander aimlessly through brush.
He brought up the group's rear as they traversed across the small bridge. He didn't find anything too exciting about it, and had little to say as he crossed. As he looked ahead, however, he realized there were still faces he hadn't found names for, and kids he hadn't properly introduced himself to (admittedly, the only name he could conjure on a whim was Eurydice's, and that was only because of its length and complexity).
"Seriously, it's like Honors Calculus in name form!" As he thought-rambled, the trek across that average, no-name bridge had ended, and Morgan had arrived in the rustic Lazuli town. He wasn't as eager to enter the Pokécenter as the others, and took his time taking in the charm and air of a small working town. Upon entering the center, he realized how this place had the Pokémart converged into it.
"That's pretty cool. Why isn't it like this in Hoenn?" He said, impressed at such ingenuity. He looked ahead, and thought of handing in Spike to the nurse. He took a look towards Spike, who looked as happy and energetic as ever, and decided against it. "Maybe they might have something for us inside the store." was his next thought, and soon, the two entered the Pokémart's space. As Morgan took a quick glance of what was around him. It looked as if one of the girls he met earlier, Erika, was towards the rear of the store (causing Morgan to quip on about how she was one of the other names he remembered).
Spike eagerly sniffed at the air before running ahead, his nose catching scent of food, and a pokémon with a breed identical to his. And indeed, there was another Poochyena in immediate sight, this one lingering around the aisle containing pokéfood. Unlike Chase, Morgan learned that Spike would come back when his name was called, and let him roam within a reasonable distance. His attentions were then turned to the next immediate person, a familiar faced female that stood at the store checkout counter.
"It was that girl...she was the one with the Togepi!" He realized excitedly. He began to approach her, as he did, he briefly fancied a glance towards the aisle where his Poochyena greeted a similar, one curiously sniffing at the other.
"Not to be that kind of guy to just pop out of the random to bombard you with questions, but...how'd you manage to obtain a Togepi? That pokémon's so rare in Hoenn, I used to think they were like some sort of legend." He asked, referring to a time in his childhood where the rarity of a pokémon would equal their mythical status. He almost forget to introduce himself through this process of thought.
"I'm, uhh, I'm Morgan, by the way." He tact on with some hesitance.
Alix was browsing through the shelves, looking for something that would suit Stana. Helping take care of the Pokémon left at her family's day-care had given her an idea of what kinds of food most Pokémon liked. After picking out a case of flavoured 'bites' for omnivorous Pokémon, she heard a familiar voice ask her a question.
"You won't happen to know any good types of Pokémon food to get? I've never had to buy any before and I'm a bit lost as to what to buy."
She turned to find the Asian girl, Erika, standing nearby. Almost immediately Stana was on her feet and hurrying over to sniff at the other Trainer's shoes. "Stana, no. Come back here. Erika isn't food," she commented with a bit of a chuckle. The Poochyena returned to Alix and sat at her feet, though the Trainer kept an eye on her Pokémon just in case.
"Anyway. Um... well, I figure it depends on what kind of diet your Pokémon normally eats in the wild. Stana, for example, is an omnivore, so I picked out a case based on that," she explained. "And Matti, my Togepi, needs food specifically made for baby Pokémon. Although... it couldn't hurt to have something on hand for each type of diet," she added, taking another two cases, one for herbivores and one for carnivores.
As she did so, another of the Trainers in their little group made his way into the aisle, a Poochyena of his own in tow. Stana promptly ran up to her fellow Dark-type and introduced herself. "Yen! Chee-yen, yen!"
Alix gave Stana a bit of a look: it seemed that she would need to coach her a bit more in the concept of 'stay'. She turned her attention to the guy who presumably owned the other Poochyena, who had questions for her as well.
"Not to be that kind of guy to just pop out of the random to bombard you with questions, but... how'd you manage to obtain a Togepi? That Pokémon's so rare in Hoenn, I used to think they were like some sort of legend. I'm, uhh, I'm Morgan, by the way."
"Ah, yeah, Togepi isn't usually found in Hoenn, as far as I know. My parents and I run a day care in Lavaridge Town. A couple of people brought in a pair of Togekiss and asked me to take care of them for a while. While I was looking after them, the female was holding on to two Eggs... so the Trainers gave me one as a thank-you gift," she answered Morgan. She remembered her up-close encounter with the beautiful Flying-types as she spoke. It was a little hard to believe that the curious, carefree and childish Matti was a descendant of such magnificent creatures.
"It took a long while to hatch the Egg, since the usual breeding conventions are that most Eggs need to be in the presence of other Pokémon to hatch and I didn't have any other Pokémon of my own," she continued as she led the way to the cashier, pausing to go through the motions of the purchase. She waited for the others to buy the things they wanted before they returned to the Pokémon Center's main hall.
Just in time for the Nurse on duty to wave them over, holding a tray of Poké Balls in her other hand. Once Alix reached the counter, she spoke up. "I've got Pokémon here for... Alix, Robyn and Erika."
Alix collected Matti's Ball with a smile and a quick 'thanks,' looking around for Robyn. She spotted the darker-skinned Trainer with headphones on, presumably listening to something. Alix waved to her, trying to get her attention.
Robyn looked up from her music and spotted Alix waving at her. It was a quick deduction to see that the Pokemon were now ready to go. She got up and dropped her headphones back down so they peaked out from her sweatshirt.
"Thanks Alix," she said as she grabbed her three Pokeballs from the attendant. "So, where to now? Ground Gym? There's some ass that needs to be kicked!"
Erika had no idea that choosing the correct type of Pokémon food for your Pokémon went so far. ?Thanks,? was all Erika could say before Alix turned to address Morgan and answer his questions about her Togepi. Erika used the time that Alix was addressing the question to look over, and pick out a box of food for omnivore Pokémon, and another box for herbivore Pokémon. When Alix finished Erika knew that the girl had probably lived a more interesting life than her own so far. She got to spend most of her life around so many types of Pokémon and even got a rare baby Pokémon out of it. Lucky.
Erika moved to the cashier with the other two trainers and cashed out after Alix. Her purchase included the rubber ball, the stickers, both boxes of Pokémon food, an additional potion, and an extra antidote; together the purchase cost her P$1000. Erika paid the cashier and continued with the small group over to the main hall, only stopping for a second to place the broken Poké Ball from earlier in a recyclables bin.
Right away the Nurse had called all of the trainers over to the counter to collect their healed Pokémon. Erika waited for Alix to grab her Pokémon as she wasn?t completely sure about which ones were her?s. As she moved her hand over three Poké Balls the nurse nodded her head yes and she picked them up from the tray.
Erika quickly released her Pokémon one at a time; with her Swinub first, Pidgey second, and finally Poochyena third. She put the appropriate stickers on their balls before placing them on her belt buckle. When Breña went to go bite a chair leg Erika threw the rubber ball and said, ?no biting things. Go fetch that instead.?
The Poochyena raced after the ball before bring it back but didn?t drop it on the floor. ?Why do I have a feeling that you?re not about to let go of it any time soon?? Erika asked herself as Breña made no move drop the ball to be thrown again. ?Doesn?t matter you won?t go biting things if the ball?s in your mouth.?
"So, where to now? Ground Gym? There's some ass that needs to be kicked!"
Erika heard the very enthusiastic Robyn ask loudly. Erika instantly reached for the map she had gotten at the dock when she first arrived at the region. She pulled it out and looked at the indicated Routes on the map between the towns and cities. ?We could take the direct Route 3 to Kalita City, or we could take Route 2 to Lake Lapis and then cut across back to Route 3 from there,? Erika said after looking at the map for a few seconds.
?I?d personally prefer to take the path with Lake Lapis along the way. Most Routes in Johto have different species of Pokémon on each one; so if it is like that here, there will be more for options of Pokémon for us to catch. On top of that water Pokémon are strong against ground types. Therefore it would make sense to go there if we want Pokémon who have a type advantage against the first Gym Leader we?ll be facing.?
Caleb was surprised to see Kayla flying overhead, only to swoop by and let him know she was rounding up the rest of the group ahead. Caleb just nodded in understanding and waved as she headed for the bridge. Soon, Maxwell was in his Poké Ball and Spike was back on the pack of the Trainer who started walking to the bridge and ultimately to Lazuli Town. Being one of the last to set foot into the Pokémon Center, Caleb waited while the others finished handing over their Pokémon before following suit. He was reluctant to send Spike back into his Ball, but it was necessary for the Elekid to be in top shape. While he waited, he watched as a few of the Trainers he was with had made their way into what appeared to be a Poké Mart within the Center.
Ah, that's convenient, thought Caleb. Might as well do some shopping while I'm here.
It wasn't that Caleb needed more things to put in his backpack that was already about to burst, but he felt he could probably use a new belt to put his Poké Balls on. He approached a spinning display rack for belts of various colors and styles. Settling for a plain, black leather one, he grabbed it off the rack and turned to make his way to the checkout stand. Much to Caleb's surprise, he accidentally swung his pack into a rack of hats right behind him.
"Oh, nonono," Caleb protested in a hushed tone as the rack teetered and nearly toppled over, though with a reaction time that surprised even himself, Caleb managed to grab hold of the rack before it was too late. The Trainer sighed with relief as he straighted out the display and regained his own composure. However, he seemed to forget about the belt rack that was right behind him, for when he turned again, his pack knocked it off balance just as it had just seconds before. Unfortunately Caleb's reaction time for this second of accidents was not fast enough. Most of the belts fell off their hooks and scattered as the rack fell to the floor.
"Aww, fuc-" Caleb started as he picked up the rack off the floor, obviously frustrated about his lack of situational awareness. Taking into consideration the possibility of nearby youngsters, he immediately revised his exclamation the way he'd taught himself to in the presence of his parents. "...cryin' out loud."
Elias disliked lines and having to wait. So he decided to walk around the town for a bit while the other trainers went into the Pokemon Center. But to his disappointment his trip was a rather short one. The town was quite small and there wasn't really much to do. He found some houses that looked very similar to one another. Perfectly symmetrical windows and perfectly clean yards. It was a little creepy, actually. There was also the lake. But after traveling so far on a boat Elias had seen enough water.
His too-short circle ended and Elias returned to the Pokemon Center not even the tiniest bit out of breath. He paused briefly before entering the building to re-check the fourth chapter of his Pokemon guide. Did he really have to wait around?
Code:
Pokémon trainers can get their Pokemon healed at a Pokemon Center free of charge. It is recommended that trainers heal their Pokemon if they are injured in battle. Healing Pokemon can-
. "Okay, okay." Elias pushed open the door and headed for the shortest line available. By watching the trainers in front of him Elias knew to hand over only the occupied Poke Balls that he possessed when it was his turn. He had only a few seconds worth of hesitation over which ones were occupied and which were not. He knew Dune's Pokeball of course, it was the one with the dirt streaks permanently embedded in it and bits of paint missing. But the new Poke Balls were harder to identify.
The nurse told Elias it would be a few minutes so he found an sturdy section of wall to lean against and shuffled until he wasn't in danger of falling over if someone happened to bump into him. Elias retrieved his Pokemon Guide and held it in one hand while his other hand drummed an random rhythm against the wall. The guide's pages were already getting bent out of shape and the spine was creased in numerous locations where he'd held the book open or dropped the book face down to mark his place. Some of the pages were purposefully earmarked though. The chapter on status items was marked as was the chart about all seventeen types of Pokemon. Elias flipped to the status items - recognizing the Paralyze Heal with a small grin.
The next few pages were about Potions which were easy enough to figure out. Elias looked at the pictures more than the words. He was at a green and purple bottle when something clattered in the direction of the Poke Mart. Curious, and needing to move again, Elias walked towards the nearest row of shelves. Maybe something had fallen off a shelf? Nope. Someone had apparently knocked over some stuff. "Hey," Elias called to the figure he could only partially see down the aisle, "everything okay?" He looked down to see a belt on the floor that looked a bit different than the one he was currently wearing. Not just because it was fray-free either. It sorta looked like-'Oh, that's cool.' Maybe he could get one to try out.
Morgan followed behind the girls as Alix made her way to the counter of the Pokécenter's main area. He looked on as the girl received a tray of capture devices, every other ball seemingly belonging to other trainers in the immediate space. Alix waved towards one, another one of the trainers that appeared at the research center but a few hours prior. Robyn seemed enthusiastic about what laid next, a slight contrast to what Morgan was thinking.
"You're ready to go the gym already? You don't think you should have more pokémon in your party? Or wait until the ones you have are a little stronger?" He asked Robyn with curiosity as Erika put her map away. He thought about the scenario himself. Even if she was capable with taking on a gym leader with what she had currently, Morgan was quite sure he couldn't complete such a task himself, not when one of his pokémon was completely disobedient. And even as competent as Spike was, Morgan wasn't willing to just let one pokémon take on a team of three or possibly more.
Someone called out to Caleb as he was crouched beside the belt rack, picking up the various lower body garment descension prevention devices with added Pokè Ball holders. The voice from seemingly nowhere startled him, causing him to quickly stand upright. Unfortunately, his backpack strap managed to catch itself on one of the lower belt-hangers and, with the force that drive the pack upward, nearly sent the display end over end as it fell once more, losing any semblence of Caleb's attempted reorganization. "Aww, geez..."
The Trainer lowered his face into his upturned palms in disbelief of his astounding clumsiness, having already ruined a display twice in mere minutes. Holding what little composure he had, he peered around the shelf and down the aisle to the source of the voice. He met eyes with the thin, brown-haired man that addressed him and waved sheepishly. Realizing he had yet to answer his question, he retracted his wave and scratched the back of his head as he tried to put a coherent sentence together.
"Yeah, everything...well, no actually. I mean not really," Caleb said as he looked down to his feet then at the mess he'd created. "Just kinda...sprucing up the place a bit, I guess, heh..."
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
