The Road to Indigo (Pokemon RP (Closed): Chapter 7: Dead Living On The Radio...)

[CounterAttack]

Rochelle was taking her time walking through the city, unsure of what she should be doing or where anyone else was. Maybe they were already challenging the Gym in Cerulean, or out training somewhere... they could be all over the place for all she knew. She would have to call someone to find out.

After coaxing Natalya off of her arm and up onto her shoulder, Rochelle raised her left arm and flipped open the top of her Pokégear, selecting the small cellphone icon. The list of numbers she had stored blinked into life: aside from those belonging to her home phone and parents' cellphones, she had phone numbers belonging to... Jordan. His was the only one. No-one else had written their number down in the café in Pewter, when she had suggested it. Slightly bugged by this lack of co-ordination among the group, Rochelle closed the Pokégear and resumed her wandering route back to the Pokémon Center. She resolved to pester almost everyone else for theirs; that way situations like this wouldn't happen in the future.

As Rochelle walked along, coming to an intersection, Natalya was looking around all over the place. Spotting something, she chirped once in her Trainer's ear and jumped off of her shoulder. The little bird flew around Rochelle's head once before coming to a stop in midair, pointing with her beak back down the path they had taken. "Krow, Murrrkrow," she chirruped, seeming insistent about something.

"What? What is it?" Rochelle asked, confused. She turned to look behind her, and saw nothing out of the ordinary at first, just people going about their daily lives... and then she saw the black and grey Pokémon walking alongside a familiar figure. The Pokémon was about three feet tall... Rochelle wondered what it was, and where Simon had found it. She waved to the other Trainer as Natalya shot off in flight to get a closer look. Not that she needed it; as a bird Pokémon, she probably had better eyesight than Rochelle.

The Trainer followed in her Murkrow's wake, heading back down the road to meet up with Simon. Natalya circled back and landed on her shoulder as she got closer, ready to intervene if necessary. She wanted no harm to come to Rochelle.

 

[NeoAC]

Jordan watched the two girls battling the local flora and fauna and a thought crossed his mind, as it occasionally does. I should probably let the bros out, let them do some stuff. He reached into his pockets and pulled out his Pokeballs, released the three current members of his team into the open. Vince came out first, triumphantly raising his scythes. Then Spike, manically moving around as usual. Finally, darkness. It took a second to register, but it seemed that Vicky had latched herself onto the brim of Jordan's hat, in an effort to stay out of the sunlight.

"Ah, OK bros, start fighting some of the stuff around here. Train and stuff."

Vince and Spike nodded, not that Jordan could see, and headed off to find some combatants. Vicky remained rooted firmly on her new perch.

"Vicky bro, come on, you can't be hanging on my hat there like that."

"Bitbit! Zubitbit! Zubitbitbit!" No. I said sunlight sucks! I'm not going out there! You can't make me!

"Come on, you like, gotta be able to go out there. You gotta get like, strong and stuff. You can't be doing that on my hat."

"Zubitbitbitbitzubit!" But I don't want to, cause it's all bright!

"Vicky, come on little broette. You'll be fine. Nothing's going to hurt you...I don't think."

"Bitbitbit!" Ooh, confident!

"Come on, trust me. You'll be fine."

Vicky hung there for a moment before answering, not that Jordan could understand. "Bitbitzubitbitbitbitzubit!" Fine, but if I get hurt, I'm going to be so angry! After that, Vicky flew out from under Jordan's brim and joined Vince and Spike in battling the other Pokemon of the area.

Jordan breathed a sigh of relief. "Least Vicky didn't like bite me or something..." It was getting handy to noon, and Jordan hadn't seen anyone else from the group today, so he decided to text the two numbers that he had. To Fary and Rochelle he sent out a quick text.

Hey. Where u guys @? Im up by a bridg. U neer?

 

[tsatoma]

"I think I should buy a simple first-aid kit once we head back to Cerulean. Just so that I could be a bit more prepared for when things like this happen. What do you two think?" Eileen asked her two Pokemon as they followed behind her, the two of them doing their best to avoid eye contact with each other. Her Pokemon both replied at the same time before seemingly starting to get into an argument, both of them growing quiet once Eileen told them to stop.

"Will you two quit it? Seriously, you two have known each other for all of twenty minutes and you hate each other! You'll both have to get used to each other sooner or later, and it better be sooner. Understood?" she told her Pokemon, turning around to make sure they both agreed. They both looked down at the ground before silently nodding.

"Good, now let's go and find some more Pokemon to fight okay? Get you two used to working together!" she said after readjusting the shirt she was using to stop any blood from dripping, leading them out of the forest they had wound up in and to some grass along the water's edge. Up ahead in some of the grass she noticed a Sunkern and Bellsprout relaxing and soaking up the sun. "Hughes, Ari I choose you!" Eileen yelled to her Pokemon, Hughes looking confused for a moment before realizing that 'Ari' was the Exeggcute's name. The two Pokemon went up to the Bellsprout and Sunkern,; the Sunkern was somewhat startled by the sudden challenge, but the Bellsprout was ready to battle.

"Go Hughes, use Helping Hand!" Eileen ordered, Hughes about to shoot out some Ember before turning around to look at his Trainer dumbfounded. She looked back at Hughes and told him that she wanted Ari to get some more experience, that he was wasting battle time, and to do what she told him to. He turned back to his opponents who seemed to be glowing with green energy, both having used Growth while the other Pokemon stalled. Hughes growled at them before releasing a bolt of blue energy at Ari, the bolt hitting him and charging him up.

"Good. Now Ari, use Uproar!" she called to her Pokemon who sprung into action; blue sound waves appearing and hitting the two opposing Pokemon. The two foes both attacked; the Sunkern using Mega Drain on Hughes, and the Bellsprout using Vine Whip against Ari. Hughes was very much unaffected by the Sunkern's attack, using Ember once it was over and knocking out the grass Pokemon. He looked over and saw Ari continue to use Uproar against the Bellsprout, who was starting to look quite annoyed at the attack. The Bellsprout backed off a few feet before going to try and Vine Whip Ari again, getting close enough to bring out it's vines before succumbing to Ari's Uproar attack.

"And that's the battle. Good job you tw- Ari stop making such noise! Anyways, you two did a good job, and while it wasn't a particularly challenging battle it was necessary for you two to get used to each other. I can already tell that you two are becoming more used to each other. Oh I see a few Paras up ahead! Come on you two, let's go," she said to them, the two looking at each other before following after their Trainer.

 

[Lambi]

"I think I should get you healed at the Poke Center, so for now it'd be best if you return to your ball." Aeris aimed Sonya's Pokeball at her and she returned in it in a red light. Ekans, Tristan and Xal were busy fighting other Pokemon, with Xal headbutting trees for Pokemon there.

Blaze in the meanwhile stayed with Aeris while they walked after the other three. After fighting for a while, the three male Pokemon returned back to Aeris to relax a bit. They all lied down on the grass, and Aeris let out Sonya who lied down with them. All six of them had a very nice lie down. That was, until another trainer apparently challenged them to a battle. "You don't have time to relax, chick. Show me what your Pokemon can do." It seemed to be some rather muscular guy who sent out a Machop and a Geodude. "Alright, if you want to." Aeris stood up and returned Xal and Sonya to their respective Pokeballs, then put them on her belt. She sent Tristan and Ekans to deal with the opponents.

Tristan took on the Geodude, while Ekans took on the Machop. Tristan started the battle with Confusion, sending the Geodude spinning into a nearby tree. Then he tackled it, or tried to as much as one can tackle an opponent made out of rock. He decided to stick with Confusion and used a Sleep Powder on it to make it fall asleep. It worked, and the Geodude hadn't managed to do much to Tristan aside from when he tackled it. The Geodude was out.

Ekans had some difficulty with Machop. His Glare didn't affect him at first, but then he used a Poison Sting which managed to poison it. Though poisoned, the Machop still fought on, using Karate Chop on Ekans. Ekans hissed in pain and bit Machop for that. The Machop used its Low Sweep attack, sending Ekans sliding across the ground for a bit before coming to a stop near a tree. Aeris was ready to take him back to his ball, but Ekans slithered back to the Machop with speed, wrapping around it, squeezing it. The Machop fought against Ekans, but the poison drained his strength until it fainted. Aeris was the victor and the trainer handed her some money. "You're a good trainer. Maybe I'll see you again. Name's Manny." He headed towards Cerulean City to heal his Pokemon.

Aeris thought it was weird that he introduced himself after the fight, but thought little of it. With two Pokemon, possibly three with Tristan, she decided it would be best to head back to Cerulean City like Manny had done. Walking back, she met up with Jordan near Nugget Bridge. "Hey there. Have you seen Eileen? We seem to have gotten separated after we ran off to train our Pokemon."

 

[RBMidknight]

'I could keep him but he may not want to stay. I could release him, but what if Team Rocket finds him again. It would be just like before. I'm not sure I want to risk that. I could ask him myself but then I'd need some sort of Pokémon translator. Maybe the professor has one.' Simon sighed quietly. Rescuing the Drowzee had been an instinctive move. One that he didn't regret. But now things were a bit complicated. He felt a little uncomfortable not having captured the Pokémon the traditional way. He didn't know how Team Rocket acquired their Pokémon. He didn't imagine that they were fair in any of their fights.

Beside of Simon Shadow was walking at, what was for him, a slow pace. He really wanted to run. But there too many people on the path. The Pokémon occasionally stopped to sniff at the landscaping in front of the shops and the people walking by. The landscaping remained undisturbed but the occasional frown was turned Shadow's way. Distracted by his debate, Simon didn't notice.

"Arrroo?" Tilting his head Shadow gave a quiet whine. He stuck his nose close to the dirt and inhaled. There was something familiar about the scent he'd just caught.

"Huh, what is it?" Simon asked. No longer focused on his thoughts he let the sounds of his surroundings filter in.

Shadow yipped and began to move faster down the path toward something. The Pokémon's slim body weaved through the small crowd with ease. Simon followed, moving slower due to the necessary 'excuse me's he had to keep telling people.

"Shadow?" Simon questioned.

When the trainer reached a completely clear space he saw what Shadow had already sensed. A familiar figure waved to both Pokémon and trainer. Simon answered Rochelle's wave with one of his own. Shadow yipped and turned in a circle before moving forward eagerly.

 

[CounterAttack]

As Rochelle headed back down the street to meet up with Simon, she got a closer look at the Pokémon who had hurried ahead of its Trainer. It bore some similarities in colour to Shadow, his Poochyena; the Pokémon Rochelle could see, and the one she remembered, had the same grey fur covering most of their bodies. This one was different, though. Easily bigger, for one. Its colouring was different, especially around the face; where the Poochyena's had been blackish in hue, this one's facial colour was the same grey as she could see on its body below.

When the unknown Pokémon got close enough to Rochelle that she could see it a little clearer - it had been somewhat easy to pick out among all the people - she shooed Natalya off of her shoulder so she could get at her backpack. As the Trainer began rummaging through for her Pokédex while she walked, Natalya flew up to Shadow. She was curious about the much bigger creature, flying around him once to get a good look. "Rrrow?" she chirped in greeting, keeping herself aloft by constantly flapping her wings.

Her Pokédex retrieved, Rochelle put her pack back on her shoulders just as Simon made his way clear of a small group of people, still following his Pokémon. She was in no real hurry to catch up to Natalya, taking a moment to read a message her Pokégear had received... and cringing at Jordan's spelling and use of text-language. It was almost painful to decipher.

Hey. Where u guys @? Im up by a bridg. U neer?

Deciding that she would answer the text later, Rochelle closed her Pokégear and looked back up at Simon. "Hi," she said brightly with a small smile, pleased to see a familiar face for the first time that day. "How's it going?" It had been a while since they had last spoken; the multiple journeys the group had undertaken hadn't left much time for Rochelle to completely socialise with everyone else. She mentally noted that there was the possibility that she would have to get to know Eileen and the friend she had mentioned, in addition to everyone else in their little group.

 

[NeoAC]

"Hey there. Have you seen Eileen? We seem to have gotten separated after we ran off to train our Pokemon."

Jordan turned to address Red, content that his bros could handle whatever they needed to be handling in the area. "Uh, I dunno. I thought I saw her earlier, like with you, but then she was like, gone. I dunno where. I just been up here training the bros up. I want to like battle that hot redhead at the Gym. I could use some more money and stuff, you know? Anyway yeah, didn't see her there."

 

[blaze96]

After Alan had gotten his Bellsprout healed at the Pokemon center he decided it was time to try and find Eileen. He walked back out onto the path he knew Eileen to have taken earlier and made sure to stay on the main path. A few trainers tried to challenge him as he walked with only Croc out of his ball at the moment but he turned them down. He was looking for his friend and subject, not a battle. After some time of walking down the path he saw Eileen going towards a fight. He swore, sometimes it seemed like she searched for a battle harder than nay other trainer on the face of the planet sometimes.

He kept his mouth shut as he and Croc walked over to her, but maintained a bit of distance. He figured he may as well pen down the battle when he noticed something odd. An Eggsecute seemed to be following he and Hughes hadn't tried to kill it yet. Guess he would have to ask her all about that later for the article since if it was a new pokemon of hers it would have to be included with a proper introduction story.

 

[tsatoma]

"No wait, come back! I just wanted a battle!" Eileen called out to a young trainer who she had approached to battle. Seemingly this fellow was one of the many she had faced over the past few days; judging from his quick escape back into the forest. "Damn. Sorry you two, guess we won't be having another battle today. There will be some to watch though, that's almost as good right?"

Ari seemed to agree with her from what she could tell, but Hughes had ran off after sniffing the air. "And there he goes. Come on Ari, we need to take you to the Poke Center to heal. You certainly look a little scruffy from all the wild Poke battles," she told him as they went in the direction Hughes had gone. After walking past a tree she saw Hughes barking gleefully at Alan and Croc, heading over to the two and greeting them.

"Nice to see a familiar face around here. Speaking of face, do you have any bandages on you? I kinda hurt myself when I was in the forest, as you can tell from the shirt that I have wrapped around my head," she explained after the initial greeting.

 

[RBMidknight]

"Things are going well." Simon responded. He glanced at Shadow who was trying to reach the flying Murkrow by raising up on his hind legs. "Shadow, be careful." The trainer warned. There were too many people around for the Pokemon's antics. Simon didn't want him falling into a random passerby.

Shadow ignored his trainer and remained precariously balanced with his tongue lolled out of his mouth in a comical if somewhat defiant manner.

"Mighhh" he proclaimed. Shadow's front paws waved in the air as he shifted to keep his balance.

Simon shook his head and returned his attention to Rochelle. "We just came from the Police Station -and the Pokémart and the N.C. Office." He hastily tacked on every place they'd visited, recalling that Rochelle had also been to the Station. "They gave me a package." he finished in a quieter tone. Simon paused, his gaze going up to the flying Pokemon briefly. "How are you?" he asked Rochelle.

Shadow gave up trying to reach Natalya and landed on all four paws. "Tee." The Mightyena brushed past Simon to sit just to the side of the main path, in between the two trainers who were conversing.

 

[CounterAttack]

"Oh, I'm okay. Could be better, of course," Rochelle answered with a small smile. "I was at the station earlier, 'cause I reported the Team Rocket incident... that was difficult to talk about." She shifted her weight to the other leg as she said that, a little uncomfortable at the thought of having to go through another recount. All the more so because of that nightmare, she silently added, not wanting to discuss that particular matter.

"Wait... did you say Shadow? But... that's not right," she continued, more to herself than Simon. She flipped open her Pokédex and aimed it at the Pokémon in question. It produced the now familiar tone, and displayed the following:

Mightyena. Bite Pokémon.
Height: 3'03". Weight: 81.6 lbs.
[color=#3399FF]Type: Dark[/color]
[color=oran]Mightyena is the evolved form of Poochyena.[/color]

"Ah, right, of course. Evolution," Rochelle noted. Having cleared that up, she turned back to Simon to resume their conversation. "Anyway. So, um, whereabouts are you headed? I wasn't sure where I was gonna go after finishing that report, so I'll follow you if you wanna go anywhere in particular."

Still curious about Shadow's much larger form, Natalya zipped between the two talking Trainers, landed in front of the Mightyena and looked up at his face. She added a short, quiet chirp, in what sounded like a questioning tone. They had been the same height back before Shadow evolved, and the Murkrow was a little bit scared of his much larger fangs and claws, though still willing to retaliate if Shadow attacked. He could probably bat her across the street with a single strike; Natalya was a small, lightweight Pokémon.

 

[blaze96]

Alan kneeled down to pet Hughes after searching through his pack and finding a roll of bandages.

"Think you can apply them yourself? If not I'll be happy to help and it is nice to see you too. Hope you know though I'm going to have to interview you later about that Eggsecute that seems to be following you. Consider it payment for the bandages." Alan said with a laugh as he tossed the bandages to her.

 

[tsatoma]

"I have no problem with that, though I might not want you to mention the fact that I met Ari here when I ran into a tree at full speed," Eileen replied, catching the bandages. She made sure to be gentle when she put the bandages on, not wanting to have anymore throbbing pain then she already was.

"Thanks a bunch. Need to buy a small kit for incidents like these once we get back into the city," she explained, handing them back to Alan before telling her Pokemon to start following her, "We'll do the interview later once the gym battles are done. Though you'll probably have quite a workload after that." She looked down at the pink eggs, thinking about how to train him. 'Wasn't planning on getting an Exeggcute on this journey, but since I caught him and he seems eager I guess I'll use him as a battler,' she thought to herself, turning her attention to the bridge ahead of them and the two familiar trainers there.

 

[LunaSocks]

Terinth exited the PokeCenter, grabbing her pokemon on the way out. As she exited she made a direct turn towards what appeared to be the center of the town. As she neared the city's center, she saw some familiar faces in the midst of the crowd. She headed for them, and saw Rochelle and Simon talking to each other. She approached just as Rochelle was finishing up her sentence.

"What's been happening today while I was asleep?" Terinth asked, looking at the large wolf-like pokemon. "Is there anything that everyone has been doing today, or is the group just doing everything by themselves?"

 

[RBMidknight]

"I think Shadow needs to work off some energy." Simon replied to Rochelle. He'd observed the Pokédex Rochelle had withdrawn and only then realized she hadn't recognized the Pokémon. "I thought maybe we could train for a bit." He hadn't thought any such thing but seeing that Shadow had been cooped up the previous night it seemed only fair to let him run free for a bit today. And training would make the running around at least somewhat productive. "Or maybe check out the gym." Unlike the previous city Simon hadn't noticed any posters proclaiming the talents of the local leader. In fact he didn't know who the gym leader was yet.

Next to the trainers Shadow peered down at Murkrow. "Migh. Yen. Mii." he responded to the short chirp the Pokemon gave. Shadow lowered his whole body to the ground and gave a canine grin which was more a brief flash of teeth. His tail wagged in a friendly manner. Shadow's head turned abruptly when one of the 'crowd' people drew closer.

 

[Lambi]

"Awww, man. Well, I don't want to go ahead without her, so I'll just wait here with you until she comes." Aeris said and sat down against a tree that was close to the bridge, but not too close to the river under it. Blaze, Ekans and Sonya lied down beside her while Xal and Tristan played around in the nearby trees.

 

[tsatoma]

"You two have the worst peripheral vision," Eileen spoke up when she was only a dozen yards away from Aeris and Jordan, giving them a slight wave after leaning against the rail of the bridge, "I swear I was waving at you two all the way down here and neither of you noticed. Probably should have yelled a few times, but I'd rather not be anymore out of breath than I already am. How was your experience here on this route?"

 

[Lambi]

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I didn't notice you." Aeris stood up, rubbed the back of her head and chuckled a little. "I caught a Venonat and named her Sonya. She seems to get along well with my other Pokemon." She looked towards Sonya who walked over to her and smiled. Blaze got up too, staying close to her trainer.

Aeris noticed the bandages on Eileen's head. "Are you alright? What happened to your head? I hope it's nothing serious."

 

[blaze96]

"I always do have quite a workload when it comes to you Eileen. Not like you take it easy." Alan replied with a laugh as he caught up with the others. Croc stayed behind him once he saw Blaze. He was a good enough pokemon to know not to freak anyone out with his presence.

"She hit her head apparently, and forgot to bring bandages of her own." He said with another small chuckle.

 

[CounterAttack]

"Hmm... training sounds good. Or the Gym, either one," Rochelle agreed. "I should probably give my team some form of training before we take on the Cerulean Gym, though. It makes sense to know your limits." The Gym Leader in this city was a mystery to her; for all she knew, her Pokémon could be a complete success... or they could have no chance against this unknown Leader. Perhaps observing a Gym battle could help Rochelle with training her team for her own match.

Then again, first-hand experience was usually the best kind. Maybe she should take up the challenge herself. It was difficult to decide which to do first; training or an attempt at the Gym.

Natalya visibly flinched at the sight of Shadow's fangs, even if she had only caught a glimpse of them. Nonetheless, she tried to remain friendly to the Mightyena, taking a couple of steps closer and lightly poking at his feet. When Shadow looked around at the sight of another person approaching, the Murkrow followed suit, returning to Rochelle's side as Terinth got closer in case she needed protecting.