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

[tsatoma]

With the final gym battle finished and the subsequent closing of the gym for the day, Eileen found herself right back outside with the rest of her group after having just went back in. At least I got to grab my stuff before being kicked out, she thought, hefting her backpack over her shoulder as she watched the rest of the group start heading back to the Pokemon Center.

"No sense going back when all of you are healed up right? Might as well get a head start," Eileen told her Pokemon giddily, already excited for the battles that were to be won today along Route 9. She already knew how to get to Route 9 after having explored Cerulean City for a few days before she had joined up with the group. With this knowledge, Eileen went out ahead to the route with her Pokemon; breathing in the fresh air of a new route filled with new victims.

She immediately spotted a couple of campers and a picnicker further into the route, bringing her hands together to crack her knuckles and saying, "Cleo, you can go and scrounge around for anything interesting. Just be sure to bring it back my way. Hughes, Dalton, you two are going to get some training in."

The two Pokemon had mixed reactions to this statement, with Hughes giving a competitive bark out and Dalton looking at the kids in the distance and wondering just what in the world was he traded into.

"Hey you three!" Eileen yelled dramatically as she approached the two campers and the picnicker who had been playing around, "Do you all want to los- battle, I mean?"

Camper Drew and Camper Chris were more than ready to accept the challenge, though Picnicker Alicia seemed hesitant as she eyed Hughes. It was only after Eileen promised to use Dalton to battle her instead that she reluctantly agreed to a match. "So...who will be the first to succumb to my Pokemon's battle prowess!?" Eileen said with extreme confidence, watching as Camper Chris stepped forward.

"I'll show you what a real Growlithe looks like!" he shouted, calling out a Growlithe of his own to battle with. Eileen and Hughes shared a laugh at the opponent's own Puppy Pokemon; causing both the opponent and his friend to get annoyed. "Just you wait! I'll show you what my Growlithe can do! Go boy, use Bite attack!" Camper Chris ordered, his Pokemon launching himself into the air in a dive.

[hr]

The battles were short and sweet; which was what Eileen had expected. Hughes easily beat his opponents with his superior skills and training; while Dalton struggled a small bit when he battled the picnicker's four Grass type Pokemon. After using her last potion (writing down a note to buy more next time she could) to heal Dalton, Eileen congratulated her Pokemon before the kids forked over some of their cash to her. Camper Chris muttered something about taking money from little kids, making Eileen reply that if they were old enough to fight a battle than they were old enough to lose money after losing to a better Trainer.

"The first of many victories along this route," Eileen said gleefully, continuing with her Pokemon down to the next Trainer she could see.

 

[Pm0n3y]

The final battle between Jordan and Misty concluded quite...explosively. With the gym leader losing her temper and subsequently kicking everyone out, Charlie never got a chance to toss any flirts in her direction. With a disappointed "Awww...", the young trainer found himself being speedily removed from the premises by Aeris, deeming it best to leave before the gym leader began throwing things. Outside, the gang began heading back towards the pokémon center. Or, at least most were. Eileen sped off ahead with little less than a second word.

"Well, that's all said and donWhoa-!" Charlie was taken aback by the sudden evolution of Rochelle's Spearow. Against the afternoon sun it had a little less punch than the evolutions he witnessed the night before, but it was a sight to see nonetheless. Still in Aeris' arms, Quinn began uncurling from her ball-like state, after both hearing the sounds of evolution and realizing that they had finally exited that evil, evil establishment. "Y'know, a lot of people are a fan of Pidgeotto and Pidgeot's elegance, but Fearow..." The remark from the girl reminded him about his own pokémon, his Pidgey, Talon. "I gotta remember to put him to work on this next route. And maybe Parker...Quinn too, maybe?"

Rochelle invited the giant bird down her side, and it did so happily, breaking Charlie from his thoughts as the majestic avian blew up heavy gusts of wind as it landed as its trainer's side. "So, this next route. How's it gonna look, I wonder...?" He leisurely asked to the air of trainers.

[hr]

The route was weirdly more scenic than he was expecting. "Seriously, everything all comes together in a fit [sub]of characteristicsynergyandnatureandstuff...[/sub]" He mumbled, waving his hands about as he lazily described the area. "So!" He clapped said hands together. "Time to train our way to Lavender Town!" In an weird, almost galloping-pouncing motion, he began awkwardly highstepping his way into the nearest tuft of tall grass, eager to find anyone or anything pokémon related willing to face him. Now that he thought of it, he didn't know exactly what was in Lavender Town, but a town that had a shade of purple in it's name couldn't be all bad, right?

But before he encountered any pokémon, he stopped himself. After all that went down with the Misty battles, the events of the night before (and to some extent, earlier that morning) had completely slipped his mind. "We gotta talk to Rochelle." He wondered if she needed to be further comforted in regards to her night terrors. "But I do really? I mean, she seemed pretty okay earlier, watching her Spearow evolve n' all..." It was proving to be quite the conundrum.

 

[CounterAttack]

Okay... new route, fresh start. Route 9 was rather picturesque; the streams in particular were at least somewhat comforting to Rochelle. However, she wanted to try something before properly getting into the thick of things, training-wise. With that in mind, she edged a short distance away from the others and released Phoenix a second time. Might need some space for this. "Rrow?"

"Phoenix, we're going to try an experiment. You're a big guy... but are you strong enough to carry a passenger?" Rochelle inquired, looking up at the large bird.

"Row? Fearrr... fearrow." Phoenix seemed to mull it over for a while before he shifted his weight and leaned down to match Rochelle's height, wings partially extended to expose the cream feathering on his back. "Is that a yes?" Rochelle mused, carefully approaching the base of the bird's neck. Phoenix wasn't much bigger than her... would he be strong enough? You never know until you try...

Rochelle tried climbing up onto Phoenix's back. It was odd; there weren't any handholds or anything, so she put one hand on the base of his neck and hoisted herself up one leg at a time. The Fearow made a noise and shifted under her weight, but remained standing and got back up to his previous height. If anything, he seemed to be trying to tell her to hold on a bit better. "Dang, you're stronger than I thought," Rochelle noted as she held onto Phoenix by his neck feathers, doing her best to hang on with all four limbs instead of just two.

Okay... moment of truth. "All right, Phoenix... let's go. To the skies!" she told her Pokémon.

"Fearrrrow!" Phoenix let out a cry as his wings snapped open. He took a short run-up... then began beating his wings quickly. Rochelle felt the bird push off underneath her... and then she no longer felt the ground beneath. Phoenix took to the air, wings working to keep him and his passenger aloft - and making a mess of Rochelle's hair in the process - but they were flying. The thought was exhilarating. Rochelle had the freedom to go wherever she wanted...

... only they were flying too low. "Phoenix! Watch out!" THUMP.

Focusing on keeping himself going rather than flying higher, the Bird Pokémon met the top of a rather large tree and crashed straight into the leaf canopy. Rochelle was rather unceremoniously deposited in the thick of them, and gravity brought her crashing through until she met the lower, thicker branches. She thought she caught sight of someone or something in the same tree, probably a Pokémon. Above the tree, however, a small flock of Spearow were dispersing, spooked by the giant bird and his Trainer disturbing their nests.

"Ooh... that was a mess," Rochelle groaned, extricating herself and her pack from the tree and landing on the ground with another thump. "Might have some bruising from that." Still. We proved it can be done. Phoenix just needs practice.

"You'll get more than bruises! You and your big dumb bird scared all the Pokémon away with your carrying on!" A kid a few years younger than Rochelle dropped from the tree with considerably more grace than the redhead. "I was gonna catch myself a Mankey too... dangit! You owe me a battle for that!" The kid brandished a Poké Ball.

Rochelle got to her feet, running a hand through her hair to comb out any leaves and twigs that had gotten stuck. Well, it beats fighting wild Pokémon... fine. "Fine, what're you sending out?" In response, the kid released a Geodude in front of him. "Geo! Geo!"

Kirsten would thrash the Rock-type in a heartbeat. But Rochelle saw it as an opportunity to get Kara used to the idea of battling. "Kara, you're up," she noted, calling her Abra into the makeshift arena. The Psychic-type was curled up in a ball, sound asleep.

"An Abra? Ha! This'll be quick. Geodude, Magnitude!" The Geodude promptly smashed a fist into the ground, causing a small shockwave aimed at Kara. Before Rochelle could call out instructions, Kara vanished with the familiar zwoip sound she made when teleporting, reappearing a few feet to the other Trainer's right. The Abra uncurled, hovering a foot off the ground, and folded her arms as if to say, You people woke me up. Why did you wake me up?

"Kara! When the Geodude attacks again, use another Teleport! Let him wear himself out!" Rochelle instructed her Pokémon. A gust of wind behind her indicated Phoenix landing a short distance away and walking the rest of the distance to stand beside Rochelle. She would pay attention to him later: there was a battle at hand.

The kid's Geodude took the bait, trying another Magnitude only for Kara to teleport out of the way. In response to the attempted attacks, Kara raised her hands and began to glow a faint purple. An orb of light appeared between her fingers before she seemed to throw it at the Geodude. The orb made contact, knocking the Rock Pokémon back before it raised its fists.

"Rock Throw! Crush them!" the kid ordered. The Geodude tore a fist-sized chunk out of the ground and hurled it in Kara's direction. She zwoiped out of the way a third time.

"Kara, whatever you just did, do it again," Rochelle told the Psychic-type, eager to complete the battle without having Kara take a hit. The Abra turned her head in Rochelle's direction - the Trainer was unsure if she was being given a look - before Kara did as she was instructed, throwing another orb of purple light at the Geodude. This new attack seemed to wear down their opponent.

As the battle progressed, Rochelle examined Kara with her Pokédex again, just in case she had missed something the first time around.

[table border=2]
[tr]
[td colspan=2]Pokémon Recognised: Abra.[/td]
[td rowspan=3]

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td colspan=2]Updates:[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Moves:[/td]
[td]Teleport, Hidden Power[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

Hidden Power? Isn't that the move that has a different type advantage depending on the Pokémon using it? When did Kara learn that? There would be time for explanations later. For now, Rochelle needed to finish the battle. "One more, Kara! Let's end this!" Kara's purplish orb appeared a third time, and for a third time it connected with the Geodude. This time it didn't get back up. Disgusted, the kid called back his Pokémon and stomped off in a huff. Didn't even have the courtesy to say anything.

"Well, that was... different."

"Aabra."

 

[Lambi]

At least they were out of the gym, Aeris thought as they all left. Quinn still in her arms, Aeris watched as Rochelle's Spearow evolved into a Fearow. She was quick to grab her Pokédex and scan the Fearow with it, then put it back in her pocket. It was fairly big, taller than she or Rochelle were, and looked impressive. Though Aeris wasn't all that big on bird Pokémon. She'd get a dragon once Blaze would evolve again, and then they could have an air race. Sounds like a plan to me. she thought to herself before they made their way to Route 9.
[hr]
While the route did look pretty, Aeris kept herself close to the mountain away from the lake beside the route. She did not want to go anywhere near that, nor did Blaze who was now walking beside her, or Quinn who was still in her arms. Jessie had been let out as well, and was hovering over Aeris' head as per usual. She'd also let Felina out, for the simple reason that she could probably find useful items with her Pick Up ability. So far, she'd found a Potion, a Great Ball and an Escape Rope, all of which were put into Aeris' backpack.

She stayed relatively close to Charlie as they walked along the route, and when Charlie mentioned Lavender Town, she got thinking of all the Gastlys she'd be able to see, and capture. Although only one would be enough, and she wasn't even sure anymore if she would trade using a Gastly for her Misdreavus. She'd just have to figure that out once the time came. Right now, she looked around for a Pokémon to either battle or capture.

"We gotta talk to Rochelle." Charlie said, which brought Aeris' attention back to him. "Hmm, yeah, though she does seem alright at the moment to me. Maybe we could try a little later when we find another spot to stop on and rest." It wasn't as if she didn't want to talk to Rochelle, but if she seemed alright, there wasn't too much reason to bother her, or at least Aeris felt like she'd be bothering her.

She was brought from that train of thought when she spotted a Growlithe. She presumed it was a wild one as she didn't see Eileen anywhere. She quickly sprinted towards it, catching up to it before it could have a chance to run away. "Aww, aren't you just the cutest little thing ever?" she said as she hugged the Growlithe maybe just a little too tightly. She'd almost forgotten that she held Quinn in her arms, and the little Cyndaquil wasn't too happy with the current situation.

Neither was the Growlithe who expressed that very well with a growl and a well placed Bite on Aeris' shoulder. "Owww! Why you little..." Aeris let go of it, but the Growlithe didn't seem to want to run away. It seemed to want to fight, even though it didn't seem to make the initial move apart from the Bite he gave Aeris. "Growl! Growlithe!" Come at me! I can handle whatever you throw at me! "Hmpf. I see. Well, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you get. Jessie!" The Screech Pokémon hovered to between the Growlithe and Aeris. "Misdreavus!~" Leave it to me!~

"Jessie! Thunderbolt!" Aeris commanded her Misdreavus, and she followed the order, making bolts of thunder appear from the sky and hit the Growlithe, who could take it, but wasn't happy about it, answering with a Bite which connected. Misdreavus hurt from that more than if the Growlithe had used any other move it had because of her weakness to Dark moves. However, she could take it and Aeris believed in her. And if worst came to worst, she had Potions in her bag.

"Confuse Ray, followed by Psywave!" Jessie released a sinister ray of light from her eyes, hitting the Growlithe dead on, making it confused, then followed it with a psychic wave that also hit the Growlithe. It tried to attack back, but the confusion made it hit a nearby rock instead when it charged at it. "Ouch. That'll leave a mark..." Aeris said when she cringed a bit as it hit the rock.

"Okay, Jessie. One more attack, then we'll see how weak it is. Astonish!" Jessie charged towards the Growlithe and as she was about to hit it, she gave a loud shout that startled the Growlithe before she hit it. The Growlithe, now fairly weakened, tried to find a way out of the battle, but the confusion was still affecting it, so it couldn't try to escape as Aeris picked up an empty Great Ball from her backpack and threw it at the Growlith. It disappeared in a red light inside the Great Ball which shook once, twice, three times, and then it clicked, indicating a capture. Aeris picked up her Pokédex and aimed it at the Great Ball.

[table border=2]
[tr]
[td rowspan=7]

[/td]
[td]#058: Growlithe ♂[/td]
[td]Puppy Pokémon[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td colspan=2]

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Height: 2' 04" / 0.7 m.[/td]
[td]Weight: 41.9 lbs. / 19.0 kg.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Ability: Flash Fire[/td]
[td]Power of Fire type moves is increased when hit with a Fire move[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td colspan=2]Moves: Bite. Ember. Leer. Odor Sleuth.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td colspan=2]Lvl 16[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td colspan=2]A Pokémon with a loyal nature. It will remain motionless until it is given an order by its Trainer.[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

"That sounds like a good trait to have." Aeris said to the Great Ball before she put her Pokédex back into her pocket and picked the Great Ball up. "As for a name, I think Mars will do you well." As she let go of that sentence, the Great Ball vanished from her hand in white light. This startled Aeris a bit, and she wondered where it had gone when she remembered that you could only carry six Pokémon with you at once. Any additional ones would be transferred to a box in a PC where she could swap out any Pokémon she had there with any of the ones in her party.

With that out of the way, Aeris headed back to Charlie and handed Quinn over to him. "While she is adorable and feels warm to hold, she is your Pokémon, and I believe we're both feeling much better since we got out of Misty's Gym." She smiled to him as she handed Quinn over, assuring him that she was feeling better. Despite the bite marks on her shoulder which were bleeding a little, the bite marks visible on her t-shirt and the blood staining the cloth.

 

[Pm0n3y]

Charlie made sure he was a safe distance away from Aeris as she encountered the exasperated fire pup. "Don't wanna get caught up in that flurry..." he thought of using that chance to find something of his own to battle, but, he always enjoyed viewing a good fight. Unceremoniously rooting for his fellow in fire as she fought, a scream of "Phoenix! Watch out!" broke him from the battle. "Huh?" He looked around to try and pinpoint where the screams might've originated. "It sounded like Rochelle-" He was interrupted by sounds of cracking branches, rustling canopies, and the startled chirps of evacuating flying-types.

Charlie took a look back to Aeris before deciding to run off, in hopes to locate the source of the alerting noises. "Sounded like they could use some help. I'll be right back." He reassured himself as he trotted through brush. "Rochelle...? Was that you that crashed through the trees just then-?" He called out, but soon found himself looking down yet another battle. Didn't seem Rochelle needed any help at all, in fact, she was the one battling. He tried getting a better look at the battle, only to get blown off his feet again by her imposingly sized, view-obstructing Fearow. "Well, it seems they're both fine. Now to check back on Aeris..." He ran off again, this time returning to where the two began. And in the nick of time too.

Charlie reappeared at his spot behind the burgundy emblazoned blossom, coming back to the sight of a cheering, chirping Quinn and a newly captured Growlithe. "I don't even think she realized I left!" He thought with a smirk as she turned to approach him. "...I believe we're both feeling much better since we got out of Misty's Gym." The two excahnged smiles as she handed off the young Cyndaquil back to it's owner. "C'mere guurl~!" The bushy haired trainer called. Quinn squeaked happily before leaping into his arms, and finding her usual perch on his shoulders. "Let's go meet up with Rochelle, okay? I saw her battling some kid not too far from here." He told Aeris, exhibiting a "c'mon" gesture as he began for their comrade.

As they began off, Charlie couldn't help but notice Aeris' shoulder, where the white of her t-shirt intermingled with streaks of red, a sign that she was dealing with some minor cuts. "Uhhh..." By the way it seemed, Aeris hadn't even been aware of her injuries. "Your shoulder got a little banged up, Red." He pointed out. "Want me to patch it up? I know my mom packed a first-aid kit..." As he suggested his assistance, he swung his duffel bag on it's strap, bringing it to his front to rummage through it.

 

[NeoAC]

The walk along the hilly route was progressing nicely for Jordan. Vince was hacking and slashing away at whatever jumped out of the grass the wrong way. Spike was assaulting the little creatures that popped out and didn't have wings. After another talk about how she was going to have to get over this state of photophobia, Vicky flew out to back up the stupid monkey in taking out some of the lower level Pokemon. Solana stayed close to Jordan, waddling as fast as it's little legs could carry it until a brook emerged in the distance. Upon seeing the shimmering stream the water-type darted forward, eager to splash around and try and find a snack or two.

Jordan sat down next to the water, taking off his shoes to dip his feet in. The movement of the water running past felt good, much better than the last time he was in the water. This was where his mind was at its best, surrounded by H2O. It had been too long since he had been able to actually enjoy it. Shoot I didn't even get to like swim or anything in Misty's pool. Bug Boy got to do that and I didn't. That sucks. Hopefully we get back to some ocean soon. And not like, evil dude ocean. Good surf ocean.

"Chowchinchow!"

Jordan looked over to see Solana's little cross eyes furrowed in anger as a sizable yellow Pokemon sat on the shoreline, smoke or steam coming off it's body. "Psyyyyyyyyyy......

"Uh....remind me not to tick you off, Solana bro. That looks painful."

"Chinchow! Chinchowchow!" He jumped me! I had to do it!

"OK, OK, let's just keep moving on then." Jordan slipped his sneakers back on and picked his bag back up. Solana moved back into position alongside it's trainer and the two went to catch up with the rest of the team.

 

[elementsoul]

Callum finally put his shirt back on once they were inside and whistled and called out a good job to Jordan as Misty kicked everyone out of the gym. Healing up his Oddish while everyone else had their Pokémon was unexpectedly quick and soon he was off with the rest of the group. Once they hit Route 9 everyone seemed to slip up (if they hadn?t already) and Callum took off to try and catch anymore Pokémon that his job required.

Traveling along the tall grass around any trees that he could search, Callum released his five Pokémon to let them stretch and battle if they wish to. Shedinja, Spinarak, Oddish, Paras, and Butterfree were all released. Shedinja, Spinarak, and Paras all set off and started to attack the various Pokémon hiding in the grass, while Oddish and Butterfree started to come under attack of their own.

Stall and putting their opponents to sleep with the Sleeping Powder attacks made there would be attackers fall off and become either easy prey to the Oddish and Butterfree, or one of Callum?s other Pokémon harassing the local wild life. Still Callum had seen no new Bug Pokémon to catch and started to search the groups of trees in the surround areas. Suddenly after entering of the groups of trees a Pokémon that looked like a dragonfly flew in front of him, stopped midair in an instant and took off.

?Wait. I need that one,? Callum said out loud as he chased after the Yanma. The Pokémon darted back and forth between the trees and suddenly Spinarak shot out of a shadow from behind a tree and hit the Yanma. The Clear Wing Pokémon was knocked sideways by the attack and flew right into a String Shot attack.
The Yanma?s wings help shake off most of the string, but it was clearly slowed down. Callum?s Spinarak descended from a tree via a single strand of web only to be hit right away by the Yanma?s Quick Attack. Knocked into the air, Spinarak fired off a couple random String Attacks as he turned and tumbled. One hit the Yanma again, this time locking up its wings, and another hit a tree branch and the Spinarak stabilized himself. Mad at the previous attack, Spinarak tried to use Shadow Sneak again, but it failed due to the Yanma using Detect.

A little enraged, the Spinarak used its Poison Sting attack and struck the Yanma with the barb cause a cry of pain. That was enough for Callum to see as he pulled out a new Poké Ball and tossed it at the Yanma. The ball proceeded to shake for a minute as Callum waited for the click and the Spinarak waited to attack again. Finally a deafening click was heard as the Yanma was caught. Callum walked over to the Poké Ball and took out his Pokédex to scan it.

193 Yanma


Clear Wing Pokémon

HT 3' 11"


WT 83.8 lbs.


It can hover in one spot by flapping its wings at high speed. It flits about to guard its territory.



Quickly remember the name on one of his TM lists, Callum dug through his bag and found TM 62 and inserted it into his Pokédex. A moment later Yanma?s moves were updated and he had learned Silver Wind in place of SonicBoom.

Callum clicked the button on Yanma?s Poké Ball and the Yanma rematerialized in front of him. ?Hey bud, don?t fly off now. You?re part of my team now okay? It?s not going to be much different, you just get to see more places and stuff,? Callum said before looking at his Spinarak. ?He?s another one of my Buds. I don?t want to see you fight anymore, now let?s go back and introduce you to the rest of my team.?

Callum walked back to the rest of his team that was still continuing to terrorize the local Pokémon for the most part. Most of the team had spread out by this point and Callum found them one by and introduced his new team member. The last one he found was his Butterfree. The Yanma and Butterfree seemed to take a liking to each other and off together, while Callum headed off to find a place to nap for a bit.

 

[tsatoma]

Route 9 was proving to be a cornucopia of people to battle, with an abundance of random Pokemon to engage in whenever there was a short lull in Trainers. Eileen shook the hand of a hiker that had just been defeated by Dalton, commending him for giving her the hardest battle so far along the route before going off to take care of her Pokemon.

"That was a glorious battle Dalton. You performed exceptionally, though we definitely need to work on your reaction time. There also seems to be a problem with you being slow at the start, and not having quite the endurance to last a very long battle. All of which is fixable with the right training; so I'm going to adjust what you'll be doing every day to better fit your needs. We'll implement this probably tomorrow morning, so be ready for it. Until then though, you can relax for right now. My map seems to indicate that the trail is gonna change soon, so you can have a break until then. Hopefully Cleo will have grabbed the right berries," Eileen told her Pokemon, not noticing that he had started to tune her out by the second sentence.

Eileen continued talking to her Swinub until Cleo showed up, dropping a number of different berries onto the ground while holding something else in her paw. "I suppose I should have been more specific," Eileen said as she picked up the three Berries and gave them to Dalton. "Those ones I know heal up a Pokemon...though I can't recall what these two do. Might be to cure a status ailment or something. Thank you for grabbing them Cleo," she thanked her Pokemon, putting the other two berries away for now before noticing Cleo staring at her, "Uh...did you want another thank you for the Pokeball you found earlier?"

Meowth! Meow-meowth. Cleo said shaking her head, holding out her paw to reveal a silver and blue TM.

"That is better than any berry! Nice job Cleo, that is super awesom-" Eileen started as she reached for the TM before Cleo closed her paw and moved it behind her back. "Are...you serious?" Eileen said, flinching back when Cleo got ready to scratch her before realizing what she was doing and standing her ground, "No more scratches, understood? I understand that finding a TM is difficult, and I do think something like finding one should be rewarded. So, starting with this one here, I'll give you something you want for each one you find. Sounds good?"

Cleo put her paw up to her chin in a thinking pose before nodding and handing the TM over. "Thank you. Now what is it you'd like in return. It can't be anything like my golden nuggets or things like that since those are of very high value, and it isn't like you'd be able to carry them anyways," Eileen said, watching Cleo saunter over to her bag smugly before rifling through it.

"Hey I said no gold nuggets," Eileen started when Cleo grabbed one out, stopping when she also brought out a berry bar and pointed at the two. "A gold berry bar? Do you know how much those cos-?" she said, stopping herself when Cleo nodded. "Fine. Deal. If you eat too many of those bars you are going to get fat, I'm letting you know that now before you come complaining to me. Those things have no nutritional value. I'll buy you one once we get over to the next city. Town, actually," Eileen stated as she looked at the number on the TM, smiling after saying 'forty' out loud before putting the TM in her case.

 

[elementsoul]

Ouch.

Callum opened his eyes and could tell that it hadn?t been more than twenty minutes since he started his nap. Looking down at what landed on his chest was a large Pokémon egg.

?Where did this come from?? Callum asked himself out loud and he turned the egg around looking for some sign of where it came from. There was no luck from his quick inspection as he stood up and continued to look around for no further avail.

Damn. I didn?t ask for this. I?m not even sure what I?m supposed to do with this thing. Who would know? Callum thought to himself as be stuck two fingers in his mouth to signal for his Pokémon to return to him. As they slowly returned, Callum finally realized what he could do with the egg.

?Alright buddies. We?re going to head out for now. I?ve got someone I wanna find. Plus you guys caused enough harm here anyways.? Callum announced to the group as he looked over his slightly battered group, comparing it to the much worse off group of locals either passed out, or limping away.

Sighing, Callum took off back through the trees and back into the hilling route ahead of him. He could see glimpses of some of the others and random other trainers scattered along the route. Knowing the fast way forward was following the path of devastation; Callum started asking the local trainers if they?d seen his intended target. Mixed reactions from the trainers ultimately lead him in the intended direction as he came up behind her while she appeared to be negotiating with one of her Pokémon.

?You know if you were better friends with your Pokémon, you probably wouldn?t need to bribe them,? Callum said as he approached Eileen from behind.

"This is all part of the process," Eileen explained to Callum after hearing him comment on her simple business deal with Cleo, watching the Scratch Cat Pokemon scamper off to take a look for more loot. "With this whole deal, I'm showing to Cleo that I am the one who has the ultimate and final say in the matter while still giving her the power to ask for a suitable reward for her abilities. So increases her productivity and sense of worth," she elaborated after the Meowth was a good distance away, putting her gold nugget and berry bar into her bag before standing up. "So how has the route been treating you and your Pokemon?" she asked, taking off her glasses to clean them of the dust from the trails.

Callum wasn?t convinced about what claimed. A good friend would work harder for you then someone with a business deal, but he didn?t have enough experience with the situation, or care enough, to bring it up.

?Pretty good. I caught a Yanma which should be?? Callum stopped his sentence as he looked back and saw his Butterfree and Yanma flying off together again. A quick whistle and a call about wanting to introduce them to someone brought them flying back. ?Well he should be back in a second.?

?Oh ya, I also woke up after a nap to find this egg on my chest. Not sure where it came from and I?m not exactly sure about how you?re supposed to take care of one. Do you have any idea?? Callum asked after remembering that he was still carrying the egg.

"An egg, eh? That seems fast," Eileen mused after putting her glasses and looking at the egg that Callum was holding. Glancing up at the Yanma and Butterfree, she noted the similar colors that the egg and Yanma shared. "Well it is easy to deduce where it came from. As for taking care of it, I'm not exactly an expert on the subject. I know that you can usually just hold onto it and it'll hatch by itself when the Pokemon inside is ready. Some people buy a special case to carry it in, but there isn't a place to buy one around here anyways," she told him.

"Once it hatches it will be a fairly weak Pokemon that will still need protection for a while until it builds up strength," she added taking her eyes off the egg to look up at him, placing emphasis on a few of the words to get her point across.

Perfect she knows more about taking care of an egg than I do. Callum thought to himself ignoring most of what Eileen said while a grin grew across his face.

?Here,? Callum said while lightly shoving the egg into Eileen?s arms. ?Since you know more about Pokémon eggs than I do, you can watch over this one. Consider it one of the favours that you owe me alright?? Callum said to Eileen with no forethought what-so-ever.

Eileen practically dropped the egg as it was shoved into her arms, managing to clutch it tightly enough to keep it from falling onto the grass. "Woah, I mean...they aren't really that hard to take care of. It doesn't need to be kept at a certain temperature or anything complicated like that. I think," she replied back to him after the initial shock, not particularly keen on the idea of taking care of someone else's Pokemon egg.

Especially since I tend to get caught up in such dumb things that usually cause bodily harm! He does too though, so there is that. Not sure how long it takes a Yanma egg to hatch; I only know they tend to be rarer than normal Pokemon and are pretty decent battlers with the right moves. There is also the fact that I do kinda owe him...and I doubt he'd be the most active caretaker, Eileen thought over, wondering just how the egg would survive with such an absentee Trainer looking over it. "Alright. I'll take care of the egg for now until it hatches. After that the Pokemon, which should be a Yanma, will be your responsibility. Be sure to catch it in a Pokeball as soon as it hatches as well; you never know if the Rockets or some other thieves are around to try and take it."

?Alright I?ll try to keep that in mind and try to be there when it hatches. Thanks again for looking after the egg.? Callum said with a smile before looking around and see the Yanma and Butterfree start to fly off together down the route away from Cerulean City.

?Get back here you two! Stick together with the group!? Callum yelled in a fun manner as he started to chase after them, the rest of his Pokémon following him in tow.

"Yeah. This egg is definitely in better hands now," Eileen said aloud as she watched Callum run after his Pokemon, hearing a grunt from her Swinub in agreement.

 

[CounterAttack]

"Rochelle...? Was that you that crashed through the trees just then-?"

"Rra!" Kara vanished yet again, and Rochelle soon heard the sound of rustling in the tree out of which she had just fallen. "Dangit, Kara... you need to stay with the rest of us," she told the section of tree where she thought the Abra was nestled.

There was no response except for more rustling. Rochelle just sighed. Oh well. She'll be back soon enough. Was that Charlie calling out earlier? "C'mon, Phoenix. Might as well meet up with the others again." "Rrow!" Phoenix tried to land on Rochelle's shoulder for the trip, but knocked her flat on her face with one wing due to his drastic increase in size since his evolution. A yelp from the redhead was soon stifled by a mouthful of grass.

"Pfthah! Gross! You don't get shoulder rides any more, Phoenix. What? Don't give me that look, you're too big!" The six-foot-tall Fearow briefly covered his face with one wing, but acquiesced and shuffled in step behind Rochelle instead of taking his old place on her shoulder. Mildly annoyed by the lingering taste of earth and grass, Rochelle headed back the way they came, soon finding Charlie and Aeris with a few of their own Pokémon out and about.

"Hey. How goes things?" she queried upon getting closer and coming to a stop. Zwoip. Kara popped back into view at Rochelle's feet, but didn't acknowledge any of the three Trainers. Instead she folded her arms and turned to face away from the humans present.

 

[Lambi]

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. And here I'm used to Fire types liking me. I guess there's a first time for everything. This bite scar will make a fine addition to my burn scars. Yeah, it'd be good to get this disinfected and bandaged as soon as possible." Aeris said to Charlie before they got to Rochelle who hailed them. "They're going alright, aside from an injury I got from my latest catch." She pointed towards her bloodied shoulder. Blaze looked at it and looked both concerned for what had happened and gave another look as to say that she could have been more careful. Jessie mostly just hovered over Aeris' head, but also looked concerned for her trainer. "Misdreavus~" That looks like a nasty bite~ "Yeah, it does." Aeris answered Jessie before she rolled up her sleeve so Charlie could have an easier access to her wound.

Charlie got to work, tending to the fresh cut as Aeris addressed Rochelle. "We're fine, Roche. But, what about you-sweetarceus-" In the second it took for him to look away from his work, he noticed an Abra materialize at their feet, and did a bit of a hop in fright. He gained his composure in time, and with a sigh he finished wrapping the gauze around Aeris' shoulder. "I mean, you look fine now, but after what happened last night..." He completed the wrap alongside his pause, giving her his attention before he continued. "I'm just saying, if you need any sort of back up, I-er, we'll be there. We got your back, is what i'm sayin'." He concluded his bout of repitition with a smile and a cheesy thumbs-up.

"Thank you." Aeris said, giving him a smile before turning back to Rochelle. "Yeah, he's right. We're here for you."

 

[CounterAttack]

"Yeah... I guess I owe you an explanation for that," Rochelle answered, glancing down at the ground for a second. "Um... Aeris, you remember Mt. Moon, right? How we ran into Team Rocket? Before everyone else met up with them, I ran into a couple of them while I was chasing Iskra. They... they knocked me out with Sleep Powder and... and left me in a locked closet. Took all my things too, and my Pokémon. I - I panicked. Tried to get out... but almost every night after that I've had nightmares about being lost in a maze, with them chasing me." Her voice shook as she spoke, but she persisted.

"Last night... well. Vermilion only made it worse, and that was th - the result," she finished, folding her arms tight in a self-hug. Phoenix rested his head on her own, though Kara remained indifferent.

 

[Pm0n3y]

"What?!" This was Charlie's first hearing of this meeting. "Whoawhoawhoa, you guys ran into Team Rocket on Mt. Moon?? When was this?!" Clearly excited over the whole story, he remembered hearing news about the infamous ne'er-do-wells frequenting the area, but he cleared the range without one encounter from any of the gang's members. "So S.S. Anne wasn't the first time they've had a close encounter with those dickholes." As he thought, his face crumpled in aggravation as his hands balled into fists.

This expression lasted momentarily, as he tried to shake off the spontaneous fit of anger. "I...huh, heh...whoo!...that pissed me off more than i'd like to admit...!" He replied, unaware of his pacing motions until they were full blown cycles. "Okay, no, I change my mind, i'm a little pissed, y'know? Just..like...just lightly livid. I mean, really?! They basically snatched you up, and robbed you?? And they probably could've had their way with you and left you for dead, too?! NO! No no no, nonnono no. After the bullshit that went down on that boat, i'll be damned if I let them come at you like that again. Or at any of us, for that matter! No! Fuck naw! Heh! Nope, non, nuh-unh, no siree bob!" Charlie took a quick breather, putting his hands on hips to stop his pacing for just a second. He felt it best to collect his thoughts before his rant devolved into exasperated rambling.

"Just...fuck! I wish one of 'em steps to me the wrong way, imma beat the shit outta 'em! I don't even have to win the fight, i'd just be fine with getting a few hits in! Just as long as they got the message!" the vibrantly animated, very colorful, Rocket-induced rant ended with those last words, the bushy-haired trainer taking in a few deep breaths to regain his composure. "Okay, s'cool, i'm fine, i'm fine." He straightened himself back to normalcy as he fell back in with the two redheaded trainers. He placed a hand on each of her shoulders, putting on a look of grimacing determination as he looked into her.

"If what we said earlier wasn't enough proof, then let me cement our claims. Like, a declaration of newfound volition. No tears. No fears. Just pure, unleaded anger with a dash of lazer-guided vengeance. If we see one of those Team Rocket fucking shits again, and they wanna throw down, then we'll fucking throw down. I'll throw down. Bet on it, Roche." Letting out another sigh, his expression softened. He quickly calmed as he backed off, pushing the thought towards the back of his mind. He shook himself off, and raised his head with his usual, trademark smile. "...Alright? Okay. Now, let not retread old ground anymore. At least, not right now. It takes up wayyy too much of my energy to get all riled up like that." He chuckled with some sheepishness.

 

[RBMidknight]

It was a Pokémon in a dress. Simon still couldn't quite understand it And to be more precise, it was an angry Pokémon in a dress with bows on its head and multiple ears. But the creature seemed focused on growling and running circles around Simon. He hadn't been attacked yet.

The trainer had been taking a break, so his supplies - and Shadow - were a short distance away. Apparently Shadow didn't feel threatened by the newcomer. Simon frowned at his Pokémon's form which was curled around the two packs.

That was fine, Simon decided. He had other team members to train.

"Hey Skip, can you help me out with ....this." Simon glanced down at the angry Pokémon again but he still couldn't figure out if the Pokémon was supposed to be male or female.

"Poli?" The Poliwag tilted its head once it appeared, first at Simon and then at the strange Pokémon. Then it looked at the surrounding area. Simon did the same out of reflex. Trees, grass, dirt, every thing that was getting familiar. Though there weren't any oceans within sight. "If you want to swim we'll do that later."

The angry Pokémon stopped circling Simon and bared it's teeth at Poliwag.

"Poli..." The water Pokémon seemed saddened by the aggressive display.

"Start with a water gun" Simon ordered firmly, hoping it would end the fight quickly.

Poliwag shook itself, getting into a battle stance to ready the attack. Simon stepped back a few paces, not wanting to get doused himself.

High pressured water slammed into Skipper's target. Now there was a wet and angry Pokémon growling at both trainer and Pokémon. It started to distort it's face in a strange way.

"Double slap." Simon ordered. While the combatants circled each other he tried to aim his Pokédex at the challenger. The device kept giving its 'bad scan' alert sound. Simon hit the side of the device with his hand. "Come on!" He needed information.

The growling ceased suddenly and both Pokémon paused. Simon gave a sigh of relief. His Pokédex began displaying the information for Snubbull. Snue-ball? Snub-all? he scanned the entry quickly. Fairy Pokémon.

"Whirr!" Skipper gave a cry of alarm. Simon looked up to see Snubbull in mid-air. Electricity arced around the Pokémon's mouth just before it latched onto Poliwag's side.

"Poliiiii..." Skipper fell backwards, and Simon recognized the symptoms of paralysis. The tiny bits of errant electricity were a big clue.

"Really?" Lightning? Lightning. What was this thing? Simon dropped his Pokédex on the ground and ran to grab both of his packs. "Move!" He said gruffly. Shadow jumped out of his way, his ears flattening against his head.

Simon hauled both packs next to Skipper. Intimidated, probably by Shadow, the Snubbull backed away.

"Shadow, finish the fight." Simon pointed.

With a whine Simon didn't understand Shadow obeyed. Shadow circled Snubbull, gaining speed until he could perform a full speed tackle.

Trusting his oldest Pokémon Simon knelt next to Skipper.

"Hold on." He said quietly. I'm starting to get the hang of this at least. Carefully the trainer applied a portion of a potion bottle and followed it with a paralyze healing spray. When Skipper was able to stand Simon returned the Pokémon to its Pokéball.

Shadow yelped and Simon glanced up to see his Pokémon's fur covered in ice. More ice dripped from Snubull's jaws.

Lighting, ice...did that Pokémon have all of the elements?

Shadow sneezed twice and shook, sending ice chips flying. "Be careful", Simon called. "Try another tackle."

Simon tensed when Snubbull moved to bite Shadow. But this time there was no accompanying elemental force. The smaller Pokémon latched onto Shadow's leg but was dwarfed by the Mightyena's larger size. It looked a little silly.

Simon changed his mind. "Shadow, show it what a bite really is and then tackle it." The tackle would be tricky unless Shadow could get free his opponent. But of course, Shadow did. The tackle was more of a spin but the dislodged Snubbull flew into a tree. Simon figured it still counted.

Snubbull stumbled a few times, did a rather graceful spin, and then fell face first onto the ground.

"Gotcha." Simon pulled an empty Pokéball from his pack. "Now just hold still-"

*Rrrrrr* Shadow growled loudly, sending Simon into an immediate defensive mode. That was a sound not to be ignored.

He whirled to see Shadow growling at his Pokemon egg. Huh? Was someone trying to steal the egg? Simon looked left and right but saw no one in the immediate vicinity.

"What are you doing, you know you can't eat that, right? Hey, careful!"

Shadow whined, pawing at the straps that secured the smaller of the two packs. Simon jogged closer and knelt to inspect the bag. Two straps were nearly gone. Was he chewing on these? Simon groaned. It wasn't his main pack but he still hoped to get some use of it.

"Snuuuuu[small]bbuuullll[/small]" the sound of scrambling paws accompanied the rapidly fading call. Simon shook his head, not even bothering to look. His potential capture was gone.

"See what you did..." Simon pushed lightly against his Pokémon's flank. "Move buddy, let me see what you've ... done."

Had something moved? Simon pushed his glasses further up on his nose. He stared at the egg this time, watching carefully. But it remained still. Simon counted to ten slowly. Still nothing.

The trainer sat back, brushing dirt from his pants. He set the unused Pokeball on the ground, spinning it like a child's toy. "I could have captured that one." He commented, still watching the pack.

Shadow whined and dropped to the ground. The trainer immediately felt bad.

"Okay maybe it would have escaped. And it was kind of odd-looking."

Shadow's tail began to thump against the ground.

"Didn't you think so? I thought so."

*Crk*

Something snapped like a dry twig. Shadow's ears and Simon's head both turned to the sound.

There was an unmistakable crack in the Pokemon egg.

"Oh. Oh! Uh-oh." Simon dropped down to undo the rest of the straps and unwound the cloth padding until the Pokémon egg, which was now wobbling in place, was completely freed.

Another crack appear, bisecting the first. Simon's hands hovered around the egg. He anxiously tried to remember what he'd read. Did he get help? Was he supposed to go to a Center? What'd did he do?

Shadow whiffed quietly. "What do I do?" Simon asked.

The egg tilted, and began to fall to one side. Simon quickly put both hands around the egg.

"Come on." He urged. "You can do it."

The eggs wobbled violently almost causing Simon to lose his hold. Then with a series of popping sounds numerous cracks appeared on the surface. Rough egg shell broke away at the top to reveal a yellow head and face. Then two arms appeared. And finally two legs, which kicked immediately until the Pokémon stood up.

"Togeprrri?" The small Pokemon trilled. It looked up at Simon and made another trilling sound. Tiny arms reached up towards the trainer. "Priiii."

"Hey little guy." It's so small. Picking up the Pokémon carefully Simon held it against his chest. It actually still retained most of the egg shape, with its white base and red and blue markings. Simon reached across the grass until his hand hit the Pokédex he'd left. He needed to know if the egg bit was normal.

"This won't hurt, little guy, just...hold still."

The small Pokémon just kept chattering. It's feet kicked against Simon's ribs. He coughed as the Pokedex beeped twice and a loud fake bell sounded.

A computerized voice began speaking. "New Pokémon detected. Beginning registration process..." A series of musical tones was next. To Simon's amusement the baby Pokemon attempted to mimic the sound.

The voice continued, "Pokemon : Togepi successfully registered to Pokemon Trainer : Simon Braddock. Would you like to register your Pokemon's name at this time?"

So soon? "N-no" Simon stammered as Togepi began wriggling in his hold. "Hold still." He mumbled.

"Priiii."

"No name will be recorded at this time. Please scan the included Pokeball now."

Included? There was no included! Simon panicked. Shadow's head bumped into his free hand. "I need, what are you?" Simon saw that Shadow had rolled the empty Pokeball closer. "That, I need that."

"Good boy." Simon praised absently. He pressed the Pokéball's main switch and another button on his Pokédex. The Pokéball glowed briefly with a familiar white light as the Pokédex screen filled with a bunch of symbols that scrolled too fast for Simon to follow.

The device made another bell sound. "Pokéball registered. Thank you and have a good day."

"You too?" Simon replied automatically. He scanned the new entry.

"Togepi." He read out loud. Apparently the egg shape was normal. "Spike ball Pokemon." And he'd been wrong about his new Pokémon's gender again.

"So you're a girl." Simon noted.

"Togi. Togi." The baby Togepi tried to climb up Simon's shirt. Its small arms couldn't get any purchase on the fabric. Laughing softly, Simon pocketed his Pokédex so that he could lift Togepi with both hands. The Pokémon made a pleased sound. Simon laughed again. He dropped and raised the Pokémon just to watch it wave its hands as though it were a fun ride.

"You're a happy one, you know?"

"Togepiii."

A soft whine caught Simon's attention. Shadow was lying flat on the ground, his tail wagging even with his head between his paws.

Simon's grin faltered. He knew that Shadow wanted to play but he didn't want any accidents.

"Come here, buddy" Sitting cross legged Simon set Togepi on his knee. Shadow walked closer, tail still wagging. He paused until Simon motioned to him to lay down again.

"Shadow, this is..." Simon hesitated. Maybe he should have named her. "This is our new team member." Or maybe mascot Simon mused. It would be a while before he'd be comfortable putting Togepi in a fight.

Togepi leaned forward, with Simon's hand still keeping it upright. It patted Shadow's nose. Permission apparently given, Shadow barked quietly and licked Togepi's face.

"Hey, hey, easy." Simon pulled Togepi back, though it seemed unaffected by the impromptu washing. Simon dug through his pack and came out with a clean shirt that he used to clean Togepi with. Then he remembered the baby Pokémon food he'd purchased.

He set Togepi on top of his shirt "Stay still, okay?" Simon told both Pokémon. "Where did I put that food..." He mumbled as he began to pat the various pockets on his pack.

 

[NeoAC]

There was only so much nature that could be enjoyed among the group of people until they slowly trickled towards the natural gate that led down into Route 10. Most of the group was already there as Simon came up to the group with something squirming in his arms. Jordan had never seen anything that looked like that before, it almost looked like breakfast. "Dude, like, what is that thing?" he asked.

Simon looked a bit confused at the question. Thing? What thing? "This is Togepi." He held her towards Jordan and the rest of the group. "She's new."

Togepi looked dazed for a second before wiggling her stubby arms and feet. "Togeh togeh! Prrrrriiiiii!"

A Togepi? Simon's answer had caught Rochelle's interest. She glanced over to find, sure enough, the little white spiky-headed Pokémon looking around. Aww! Where'd Simon get that? I want one! The baby Pokémon was a rare sight to see; Rochelle had seen a couple before but had no idea where they could be found in the wild. Just looking at the adorable little guy brought a smile to her face.

Togepi continued to soak up the attention, closing it's eyes as it chirred to push its cuteness levels into overdrive.

"Cool," Jordan finally answered. "So like, we're heading down the road then, right?" The suggestion was met with general approval as the party descended towards the river that marked the end of Route 9.

[hr]

As everyone approached the rocky outcropping that jutted out towards the water, the low hum of machinery and a few back-up beeps could be heard rising over the sound of flowing water. Upon coming across the entry to the tunnel, it was clear that there were going to be some obstacles to passing through the tunnel, but they were man-made. Men in orange vests were milling around one side of the entrance and a dump truck could be seen retreating into the cave like a Diglett head, before it stopped with the cockpit still outside. The red roof of a Pokemon Center could be seen off to the side, but it failed to distract from the carved stones that now adorned the opening in the rock.

One of the men in orange vests was shouting at the truck driver. "Look, I'm telling you, you gotta dump it out further down the mountain. There aren't any spaces inside we can use in there for the junk anymore."

"Well what are we gonna do?" the driver asked, yelling over his engine. "Ain't gonna get more gullible Cerulean types looking to decorate their walkways with this crap!"

"Whatever! Just dump it outside for now, and maybe some of the Onix will eat up enough rock to clear some room!"

"Fine, fine!"

The truck lurched forward, intent on finding somewhere to drop its load. As it passed by, the group of trainers attempted to make their way into the cave.

"Whoa, like what's all this?" Jordan asked oblivious to the idea of work.

"This is the culmination of four years of work!" the foreman stated proudly. "After hundreds of complaints of the state of the cave, the Rock Tunnel now lives up to it's name! You'll be able to ride a Wailord through this thing! It will be fully complete within the next couple months!"

"So.....can we like, go through it?"

"Well of course! If you want to get through, just steer clear of a couple of the slag piles we haven't cleared out and you'll be in Lavender in no time."

Sarah looked up at the construction worker, her brow furrowed in almost a puzzled look, "But sir, if you're blasting the tunnels, won't that scare the Pokemon? Where are they going to go?"

The hard hat was lifted in a nod to the obvious question. "Well we've gradually moved the Pokemon deeper into the cave, into their own sections where they can live and fight and all that fun stuff. There are a couple pathways into it if any of you are interested in catching them or fighting them, but honestly, you're probably better off going straight through. It is why we built the tunnel, after all. We wouldn't want it to be a massive waste of government money now, would we?"

Jordan just shrugged. "Whatever dude, can we like go now?"

"Yes of course, you can past through. Just don't go over the concrete barriers, we're still doing work there." With that, the construction worker's walkie-talkie buzzed, and he went back to his job, which appeared to be yelling at people.

Spoiler: Capture List (Rock Tunnel Edition)

Zubat
Geodude
Machop
Cubone
Mankey
Onix (Uncommon)
Shuckle (Rare)

 

[Lambi]

Charlie managed to stifle his own squees as the presented Togepi did nothing but be cute. Immediately after which, he tried putting a name to the face of the trainer that owned the newly hatched babe. It at least seemed like everyone else knew him. "Maybe it's just one of the guys that I haven't been formally introduced to yet." He thought with a shrug. The cave ahead was showed it's gaping, beckoning maw. And yet, no one really seemed to want to go in first, possibly a side effect of the group's last endeavor in a dark, winding hole. "Welp, like my dad's dad always said: To live in fear of the unknown, is to live in fear of life itself." He mumbled in a bit of self encouragement. "Ready to venture forth, Quinn?" he asked the smiling Cyndaquil as he began tying his hair down.

"Quiiiqui!" The bubbly fire mouse replied. Charlie transitioned her atop his head. What about you, Aeris? Y'all ready?"

Aeris thought that the Togepi was also cute, though she didn't squee at it as there was another Pokémon she hadn't encountered yet that would be more squee worthy to her. She didn't think too much more about it as they were about to enter Rock Tunnel. Charlie seemed to take the initiative. "Yeah, me and Blaze are ready to go." she replied to his question, taking steps into the tunnel along with Charlie, Blaze in front of them to provide light if needed.

Rays of light could only follow the two for but so far before the darkness of the cave overtook them. Blaze knew her cue, however, and stretched out the flame of her tail, making sure the two were never too far from a source of sight. "Quinn, wanna help Blaze out? Give us some extra light?" Charlie asked. She replied soon after, and the pads back ignited, doubling their source of light.

The cave was well lit now in front of the two as they continued their way into the tunnel, Aeris staying close to Charlie.

 

[elementsoul]

With the all clear to go in, Callum rushed ahead into the now well-lit cave. Having returned all of his Pokémon before reaching the cave entrance, he was able to go forward at his own speed. While avoiding and looking around the piles of slag, Callum eventually found one of the aforementioned paths that lead to where the Pokémon lived.

As Callum entered the pathway the light slowly started to taper out and his forward vision became more limited. Suddenly a swarm of Zubats came flying in from the top of the cave, and Callum hit the ground pulling out his Butterfree?s Poké Ball, and released it into the air. Callum?s Butterfree was in flight for a moment before eradiating a psychic wave around it. The Zubats in the air suddenly started to pass out or fly away in fear. Callum laughed a little as some of them started to slam into walls and stalactites; before long they had all flown away.

?Thanks buddy!? Callum yelled, before his Butterfree took off down the path in front of him. ?Hey don?t fly off like that!? Callum called out after it. Soon he found himself running forward, into a fading trail of sleeping powder. Suddenly his Butterfree stopped and turned around in the air as if it was going to turn around for another attack and Callum tripped over something on the ground.

Skidding across the ground lightly and slightly hurting his knees, Callum turned over onto his ass only to be staring an asleep Shuckle in the face. Upon noticing that it was asleep, Callum pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon.

213 Shuckle


Mold Pokémon

HT 2' 00"


WT 45.2 lbs.


It stores berries in its shell. The berries eventually ferment to become delicious juices.



Cool another Bug Pokémon. Callum thought as he pulled out an empty Poké Ball. His Butterfree, at this point, had performed a couple of dive bombing Tackle attacks on the Pokémon in front of him. Pressing the Button on the Poké Ball and tapping it against the Shuckle resulted in the Shuckle being pulled in and instantly locked inside of the Poké Ball. After a moment a beam emitted from Callum?s Pokédex and connected with the captured Shuckle?s Poké Ball. The Ball dematerialized and was transported to Callum?s Pokémon Box.

Cool, I didn?t even have to go put it into the PC for the researchers to look at.

Getting up from the ground, Callum almost got hit by a rock that was almost a foot in diameter. ?What the hell?? Callum didn?t have time to finish his sentence as an Onyx propelled another rock at Callum?s Butterfree, which missed and landed a couple yards behind Callum. Quickly Callum pulled out his Oddish and released it. At the same time he removed Butterfree?s Poké Ball with his other hand and tried to aim the return beam at her.

Missing the first shot with his off hand, Callum?s Butterfree continued to dance around the air dodging the thrown rocks. Suddenly the Onyx slammed its tail against the ground and a large grouping of Stalactites came crashing to the ground. Running and diving Callum managed to get clear as a cloud of dust appeared over the battlefield.

?[color=FF33CC]Free. Free. Free.[/color]? Callum could hear the pain filled cries from within the dust. Overtop of the cloud, particles of sleeping powder filled the air and the sound of the Onyx collapsing asleep echoed off of the walls. Not knowing what had happened, Callum panicked and ran into the slowly settling cloud looking for his Pokémon.

After a couple seconds of searching Callum almost got hit by a red beam of light streaming from his Oddish. The Pokémon had used its Absorb attack on the sleeping Pokémon and looked in good shape after being pelted with chips of rock from when the Stalactites hit the ground. Quickly Callum returned his Oddish and continued his search for his Butterfree after hearing a final weak, ?[color=FF33CC]Free.[/color]"

As the dust finally settled he found his Butterfree covered in blood, pinned between two of the fallen Stalactites. Aiming its Poké Ball at it, Callum tried to return it, but the beam ceased to produce. Instead the ball just sat in his hand, like it was broke.

?Return damnit!? Callum yelled in fear as he tried to get the return beam to produce again. It failed and he shoved the broken, piece of junk Poké Ball back into his pouch.

His vision of his Pokémon obscured by the fallen Stalactites, Callum rashly lowered his shoulder and charged one at one of them. The large pillar toppled over and onto the ground when he hit it, and the other one followed it after losing its support; his Butterfree followed down with them.

For the first time Callum had gotten a good look at his previously trapped Butterfree. Blood was covering its right side, and its right wing was almost completely destroyed.

Already in a panicked state, Callum went into shock as he ran over and picked up his Butterfree from the ground and held it in his arms.

?You?ll be alright. You?ll be alright. I?ll get you to a Pokémon Center. Just be alright Butterfree. Just be alright Butterfree. Just be alright Butterfree.?

Callum kept repeating that last sentence as he stood up and ran back down the path he had come down and down the rock tunnel to the Lavender Town Pokémon Center with his dead Pokémon in his arms.

 

[tsatoma]

"Watch yourself when fighting that Machop, Dalton. You are weak to his type. If you are not up to the fight, just let me know and I'll switch you out," Eileen called out to the Swinub as she watched him cautiously size up a Machop. Once the Rock Tunnel had been explained to the group, Eileen had taken her time to explore the first few paths near the entrance. She was less than thrilled once she scoped out the types of Pokemon that were in the tunnel; having already battled most previously.

Training is training though. And so began a number of short scuffles between her Pokemon and the ones that dwelled in the tunnel. The most interesting battle was the one Eileen was having with the egg that she was babysitting. Having already almost dropped it half a dozen times since being given it, Eileen was now trying to make room for it to be carried in her bag.

Can't hold it in my arms without almost dropping it whenever I move. Can't just leave it on the ground when I'm writing things down or getting a bit caught up in a battle. Just gotta move a few things, she told herself. Her bag was already organized in an efficient way; making her unsure if she could even make more room for an egg. Just have to move the small stuff into more of the side pockets. I really need to sell some of this stuff when I have the chance, or give them to someone who could use it. I'm certainly not going to need a Moon Stone anytime soon.

"There," she said triumphantly, making a slight crater by moving some clothes around before placing the egg inside. "Not too shabby, right?" she asked Hughes, who had just finished a battle(s) with a group of Zubats. Eileen gave him a pat on the head after his bark of a reply, keeping an eye on Dalton as he soundly defeated the Machop.

"A very nice battle Dalton, though I think we'll keep you on some easier Pokemon until you get stronger. Soon you'll be able to take on whole groups of Machops," she told him enthusiastically, letting him catch up before they went back into the main tunnel. "I'm thinking we might just skip to the end of the tunnel and do one more pathway of battles. Not too keen on tunnels," she explained to her Pokemon, noticing a familiar face running along the main tunnel as they exited one of the pathways.

"Hey Callum, how are-" Eileen started, raising her hand to greet him before stopping halfway once she saw his expression and caught a glimpse of what he was carrying. "Is that..? How? What did you do!?" she asked as Callum continued past her to the entrance of the tunnel. She darted after him, trying to make sense of what could have happened to his Pokemon. Knowing she wasn't going to get an answer from him just yet, she continued to follow him out of the tunnel as he made his way to the Pokemon Center outside.

Callum nearly slammed into the automatically opening doors of the Pokemon Center and raced through the waiting room. At some point during his dash to the Center, Callum's cries of, "just be alright Butterfree," had faded away to whispers, and eventually nothing. Tears had soon replaced them and streams of wet and dry tear marks marred his face as he came to a halt at the front desk. Quickly and carefully he placed his Butterfree on the table as a nurse approached, before he called out to her in a half audible sob, "please just save him!"

The nurse quickly saw the Pokemon and reached out a gentle hand to a clean shoulder of Callum's otherwise blood soaked clothing and softly spoke with a tone light in sadness and grief, "I'm sorry, but your Butterfree is already dead." Callum tuned out the nurse as she continued to speak and he came to the realization of what he had already known; his tears slowed. "There's nothing that we can do for him. I'm sure he's in a better place, but Sir, I do need to ask if you're okay."

Callum tuned back in to hear her ask if he was okay. He truly had no idea, but he nodded his head yes anyways. "I'm sorry to ask you this so soon, but we have no place to keep her and I need to know if you would like her cremated or, since we do have a Pokemon graveyard located in Lavender Town, would you like him buried there along the shoreline?" The soft voice vanished as the tears in Callum's eyes began to flow like streams from his eyes as he choked out the answer, "the...the shore." The nurse nodded and moved his Butterfree to a cart before rolling it away.

Eileen stayed silent as the nurse tried to explain the situation with Callum. Looking around, she noticed numerous disgusted looks by the patrons with a few turning back and murmuring once the nurse proclaimed the Butterfree as dead. Turning away from them, Eileen looked over Callum. He clothes were a mess, covered in blood and dirt. He seemed to not even be able to comprehend anything the nurse was saying, until he managed to make a short reply. As the nurse took the Pokemon away, Eileen spoke up.

"Just what exactly happened in the tunnel Callum? How could you let this happen to your Pokemon?! I told you, I told you that this sort of thing would happen due to your inability and unwillingness to take better care of your Pokemon! You could have stopped this from happening!" Eileen told him with malice, continuing long after she should have stopped.

Eileen? Callum though as the woman started to address him. Callum had no idea she had been following him and her voice took him by surprise. He turned to try and answer her first question before she continued. The accusations that followed hurt like salt to a wound. He felt like he should have tried to return him sooner, he should have told him to fly away from it, or he should have told him to stay close by him after he released him, or any number of a million things to prevent his friend from dying.

What right does that give her to judge me right after he died? In what way should she be allowed to accuse me of any actions I could have taken? She orders her Pokémon around like they are her slaves, and Butterfree was...is my friend. And she wasn't there. She doesn't know what happened. How could she know the situation we were in? Why does she so directly accuse when she didn't give me a chance to talk, to explain, to grieve.

Callum's tears completely dried as his anger at Eileen became greater than his grief for Butterfree. More than anything he wanted to hit her for what she had just said. Vividly he saw himself raising his hand and back handing her across the face while screaming at her. He wanted to do it, but something inside him held him back, something that cared for her and felt that while she was wrong, she didn't deserve that.

Instead Callum just spoke bluntly in a calm, but progressively louder and angrier tone. "What gives you any right to judge me like that? You don't even know what happened. You never gave me a chance to speak. How do you know I could have stopped what happened and saved Butterfree's life? What gives you any right to automatically declare it my fault!?"

Callum's voice dropped again into a soft voice soaked with sadness, "why would you be so cruel after I just lost my friend? After all I've done for you?"

Callum didn't want to finish his sentence. He didn't want to continue to accuse her like she had done to him. His eyes welled up again as he walked away from Eileen and out the door. He had to pick a gravesite, buy a tomb stone, and probably a few other things he couldn't think of right now. But most of all he had to just get away for now.

For one of the few times in her life, Eileen was speechless. She had half a mind to go out there and follow after him, telling him about how disappointed she was and how childish he could be, but there was no point. "We're going," she told her Pokemon, who had been standing by idly after following their Trainer as she headed back towards the Rock Tunnel.

 

[Pm0n3y]

There were sounds of battle apparent all around Charlie as he watched Nina, Talon, and Parker best a group of Mankey. "Alright guys, don't let up! Parker, stay focused! Keep up that hustle, Tal! Use Thunderbolt instead, Nina! Double Kick won't do that much damage!" Soon, the dim environment came alight with brief jolts of electricity. The bushy haired trainer tried giving more advice, but seemed unable to keep up with his pokémon. Talon especially, it seemed the little Pidgey could barely contain itself as he swooped in and out of his enemy's range, striking down with its talons every time.

Focusing back on Nina, he could see she had her opponent on the ropes. "Finish strong, finish strong-!" "OrRAH!" She complied spectacularly, striking one last bolt of thunder to throw the Mankey off it's feet. "Whoo!" "Qui!" Charlie and Quinn cheered on the victory. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Talon's aerial maneuvers, using the poor lighting of the area to confuse and flank the Mankey. Then, with one mighty flap of his wings, a fierce gust of wind rendered the Monkey Pig unable to battle.

"Allllriiiight~! Parker, your the last one! Keep on 'im!" It seemed the last Mankey displayed its best impression of a pincushion, as quills of poison had been administered to most of its body. Groggy and disoriented, the Mankey sloppily swiped at the Spinarak, only to have its endeavors countered by simple sidesteps or more poison. "Hey! Don't toy with a weakened opponent! It's disrespectful! C'mon Parker, let 'im rest already!" Charlie called out.

"Spiiii..." He replied disappointingly to his master's pleas, but carried them out none the less. One quick swipe with Parker's mandibles finished the Mankey, leavng the three pokémon to revel in their respective victories. "Good work everyone!" Nina returned first, nose held high as she snootily sauntered back to Charlie. [color=#80000]"Piiidg!"[/color] Talon eagerly followed suit, taking perch upon one of Charlie's outstretched arms.

"You've just been itchin' to fight today, haven't you?" The trainer replied, stroking at the Pidgey's crest. As Parker found his own perch (on the back of Charlie's leg, as his usual spot had been taken by the flaming mouse), Charlie decided to move on. "C'mon guys, let's go see where Aeris vanished to, she couldn't have gotten far-" His musing was interrupted, as a familiar trainer bolted by him, wearing a clear expression of distraught as he made his way out of the cave, a Butterfree in his grasp. "Callum...? What-" Interrupted again, he was, as Eileen took after the bug based trainer. "Uhhhokayyy..." Something obviously went down, and Charlie wondered if he should investigate. "Find Aeris first, then let curiosity go wild." He brought himself back to the task at hand.

 

[Lost In The Void]

There was something that Sarah?s Father had told her long ago when her first close relative had passed away. He had told her that without loss there was no way to truly understand what we had. The memories of her grandfather had become precious to her after all and this explained that. An old Kanto philosopher had once said that all life was suffering and that in that suffering, we began to understand all that was right with the world. Perhaps suffering was the wrong word, translations between languages were always a pain to work with. Suffering seemed to be the word that applied the most to life though so perhaps it was appropriate.

Sarah saw the blood on that rocks, it appeared that a battle had taken place, although she had never seen one to this extent. The area was covered in debris and blood spatter was something she had never seen happen when two pokemon had done battle. It was unnerving, the quiet that had fallen over the cave as she walked into this section, as if all had vanished from this evil place. As if the spirit of the dead lingered over this site and somehow Sarah knew that something was not right with the world. She felt sick and her breath became heavy even after she walked away from it.

Not seeing the rest of her companions she continued to reflect upon the site as she walked towards where she hoped the exit would be. Who had battled in such conditions? It had to be recent, she doubted that if any official or construction worker had come across the scene that they would have left it in such a state.

The words her father had said to her only enraged her further and she had run away for the day to mourn in her own way. He had apologized later for being tactless but as she had sat by the river crying she had realized that he was right. Life was suffering and the overcoming of such suffering. It was both cruel and kind in its own ways and she carried that perspective even now.

As she walked out of the Cave, she bumped into Eileen. She didn?t say anything though and just continued to walk into the Cave with such a determination that it silenced Sarah before she could even make an apology for bumping her.

She also saw Callum walking in the opposite direction, and she saw that there were the streaks of tears in his eye. She realized that he had lost something dear in that cave and that nothing would ever be as right for him as it had been before he entered the cave. She also realized that anything she would say would ultimately be useless but she pursued him anyways. Rational was not something someone grieving had any large amount of and she wanted to make sure that he didn?t do anything unintelligent in the process. Perhaps when she caught up with him she would know what to say.

Dukkha. That was the word. An unclear translation meant that it didn?t just mean suffering, but she was sure that was what it would mean today.